


Hastiludes

by GollumPanties



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, BBC!Merlin AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-24
Updated: 2015-01-24
Packaged: 2018-03-08 19:54:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 55,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3221396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GollumPanties/pseuds/GollumPanties
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kyungsoo has dreams of the future and the Voice of Destiny whispering in his ear. Unfortunately his destiny is Prince Junmyeon, who is, Kyungsoo thinks, a bit of an asshole.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Originally posted for the <a href="http://sncj-santa.livejournal.com/51772.html">2013 SNCJ Secret Santa exchange</a> for <a href="http://daeseol.livejournal.com/">daeseol</a>. This version is slightly different from the one posted on sncj-santa, in that I’ve fixed a bunch of typos (though I’m sure there are more to be found still) and, more importantly, I’ve translated the spells into Old English, the way they appear on the show. Translations can be found in the end notes.</p>
<p>Additionally, there is now a Russian translation of Hastiludes! Thank you so much to <a href="http://alyssamuse.livejournal.com/">alyssamuse</a> for the translation, which you can find <a href="http://ficbook.net/readfic/2652664">here</a>!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hastiludes

"Once upon a time," the young man panted as he struggled to the top of a hill, "there was a magical kingdom, ruled over by a wise king, where knights errant accomplished feats and rode forth on great quests. The greatest of these knights was the prince, the king's own son." He knocked a bush out of the way with his walking stick. "The king, the prince, and the royal court all lived in the great castle known as Camelot."

The sun was in his eyes when he finally reached the top, and he stood there shading his eyes with one hand, looking down at the roofs of houses below and, in the distance, the stone ramparts of a castle. Kyungsoo heaved a sigh before starting down the other side.

"Well," he said, "let's see just how _magical_ this place is then."

It wasn't that Kyungsoo had any doubts about the existence of magic. Considering the circumstances, it would have been rather strange if he had. No, what he had was merely a healthy dose of skepticism concerning Camelot and the reception of magic (and by extension, himself) therein. Certainly none of the buildings he passed scattered around the city outskirts bore the slightest trace of anything less than mundane.

The problem was that _Kyungsoo_ was very much magical.

 

It had started when he was very young. It had been small things at first, like the flowers he brought to his mother on May Day always keeping their color just a little bit longer than the other children's, but when he was seven and the rope holding the blacksmith on top of the workshop's roof snapped while he was in the middle of repairs, when a nearby cartload of hay went hurtling to catch the man without a single soul touching it, and when Kyungsoo was seen by his mother's side, hands outstretched and eyes glowing gold... then no one could fail to see that he was special. The village children didn't seem to want to play with him much after that, so Kyungsoo spent much of his free time with the town physician, learning to read and write. If his mother feared her neighbors turning on Kyungsoo for his magic, at least she could be proud to have a son who could read without his lips even moving, even if he still had to check to be sure how you stopped spelling "necessary".

She needn't have worried, however, since the others soon adopted him as a sort of good luck charm. It wasn't uncommon for them to hear a knock on the door and have it turn out to be a shepherd asking to borrow him for a lamb's delivery that he expected to be particularly difficult, or a nearby farmer wanting to have him on hand while he tried to work a new pair of oxen that had never been yoked before. Kyungsoo wasn't sure what they expected him to do if something should go wrong, but he didn't think they really knew either. Just that they figured it was better to have him there, just in case. His mother let him go as long as it wasn't too dangerous, so he would sit in a corner or at the edge of a field and read from one of the books the physician had loaned him while the usual work of the village went on around him. Down in the city, where the rich and noble replaced magic with the comfort and convenience of money, someone like Kyungsoo would have been met with fear, loathing, or even outright violence, but out here they couldn't afford that luxury. When you couldn't pay for expensive medicines or specially trained medics, often the best you could hope for was a magic touch and a whole lot of luck, and Kyungsoo saw his table filled more often than not with the rewards for his services, both real and imagined. On occasion, someone from Camelot would ride through town on official business, someone important or powerful, and the neighbors would warn Kyungsoo's mother to keep him home that day. He was the town's best kept secret.

 

He had been seventeen the first time he had the dream. When he had woken up, all he could remember was high stone walls rising up around him, the sound of steel clashing, and the sense that he was struggling to guard something. For days afterwards he had the constant urge to run out of the house and down the road, but he had enough presence of mind to realize that he had no idea where he needed to go, so was left pacing the edges of his house restlessly instead. The vague memory of the dream faded, but Kyungsoo could never quite shake the feeling that there was somewhere else he desperately needed to be. When he dreamed it again months later, it only strengthened that impression. Without a direction, though, all he could do was wait around while the ever-present weight of unspecified responsibility pressed heavier and heaver on his mind. It was almost a relief, then, when finally, at the age of twenty, the murky sounds of the dream started to coalesce into a single voice with words that became more and more distinct. By this time, he should have long since settled down into a livelihood, but he had always known that he was waiting for something else, that the dream was something he would have to follow one day, and now for the first time he had an idea of where that dream might take him.

"The fate of a man," the dream voice said, "a sparkling drop in the great blue motion of the sunlit sea. Eternal guardian, who has always lived and always will. Yours is a fight in art and skill, shadow and secrecy; service to the once and future king."

Kyungsoo spent a long time puzzling over that. When asked for her opinion, his mother would only say that it sounded like one of the pompous, self-important lords from the city, and Kyungsoo was inclined to agree with her. Still, it was the only clue he had to satisfying this feeling of obligation that had bothered him for years, so he did his best to figure out what it could possibly mean. Cryptic, semi-prophetic dream or no, he was determined not to act until he had a clearer sense of exactly what it was he was supposed to be doing, so he waited and thought and read, and all the while kept dreaming. The voice got more and more insistent. When he started hearing it while he was awake, Kyungsoo had decided it was time to get moving.

"What on earth am I supposed to be doing, anyway?" he had demanded, stopping dead in the middle of the room he had been sweeping.

He suddenly felt this overwhelming urge to start walking, and his legs ached with the effort of staying still.

"I'm not going anywhere until I know where I'm going!" Kyungsoo realized that he looked very strange, holding a broom and lecturing an empty room. "You're going to have to be a little more clear."

He shook his head, trying to get rid of the red and gold flag that suddenly filled his vision. It was like trying to blink on the inside of his eyeballs, which was unpleasant enough without the phantom texture of cloth that accompanied the flag's image.

"Stop that right now," he said. "That's awful, and you know it."

"The time is now," the voice said in his ear. Kyungsoo thought it sounded petulant. "The once and future king awaits."

"Well, he can go on waiting long enough for me to get ready," Kyungsoo replied, starting to sweep again.

That night, though, he had told his mother that he was headed off to Camelot as soon as possible. She had sighed and smiled and started to pull out his spare clothes from storage.

"I knew it would happen sooner or later," she said when she kissed him goodbye the next morning. "What do you want me to tell everyone?"

"Tell them..." Kyungsoo hesitated. "Tell them I'm leaving to follow my dreams."

He had said it because he knew it would make her laugh, which it had. Now that he was wandering down streets far wider and more bustling than he had ever seen before, he wished there was something that familiar and comforting still with him. Granted, he still had the weird voice whispering in his ear from time to time, which was familiar but not really comforting. It sounded excited and quite pleased now that he was in the city, which Kyungsoo supposed was probably a good sign. He had made it _to_ Camelot, but he had yet to figure out where he needed to go and what he needed to do. The nagging voice wouldn't shut up about this "once and future king" guy, so the castle itself was probably a good place to start looking. Kyungsoo highly doubted it was the king himself, or at least he hoped it wasn't. His Royal Highness King Siwon wasn't disliked or anything, but he was certainly the kingdom's loudest voice when it came to denouncing magic, and Kyungsoo was sure he'd quickly run into trouble if this was the king he was magically destined to protect. Still, the king had a son, didn't he? With any luck, this son would be more open to the possibility of magic as a force for good, which would make Kyungsoo's life a whole lot easier. It had to be either the king or his son anyway; the flag in his vision had definitely been the Pendragon emblem. Kyungsoo mused on the irony of the magic-hating royal family being named after a magical beast while he wandered down the main streets in the general direction of the castle, looking around at the various street vendors and their wares.

He was just looking at the various hats being sold in one of the stands to the side, when he saw a large crowd come around the corner up ahead. They were all wearing matching red capes which billowed out behind them, and they clustered together around one nearby fruit stand. Probably palace guards, judging from their clothing and general air of importance. Kyungsoo watched as they all started picking up the various produce, laughing and chatting and throwing it back and forth to each other as they discussed the relative merits of each one. The stall owner, a tall young man with huge eyes and riotous hair, looked resigned. Kyungsoo wondered if this was a common occurrence and if the group was actually going to pay for any of the fruit they ate or bruised. Something about the owner’s face seemed to suggest not. Kyungsoo was about to sigh and move on up the road towards the castle, when he saw an old woman trying to edge through the rowdy group and being repeatedly rebuffed. She kept trying patiently, but with no success. Finally, one of the men, who was lounging up against the wall nearby and munching on an apple waved her away.

“We’re busy here,” Kyungsoo heard him say. “Go bother someone else for free food.”

That was it.

“I could say the same to you,” Kyungsoo said, marching up to the group, full of purpose and righteous indignation. “This man here doesn’t look like he’s too happy about filling your bellies on the house.”

The stall owner’s eyes got even wider, and he waved his hands in protest as he looked back and forth at the red capes and Kyungsoo’s face. The man leaning against the wall looked gobsmacked. While he was shorter than all the others, something about him made Kyungsoo suspect he was their leader, so he focused his glare there. Kyungsoo put his hands on his hips and stared the man down.

“What,” said the man, straightening up and tossing the apple over his shoulder. The owner caught it and looked ruefully at the huge bites taken out of it. “I’m sorry, I must not have heard you right.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Kyungsoo apologized. “I didn’t realize you were hard of hearing. Of course, people with disabilities should be treated gently.”

There was a collective inhale from the other guards. Something about this felt off. Kyungsoo could feel the eyes of a crowd behind him as more people stopped to stare at what was going on. The shop owner looked horrified. The leader of the guards came right up to Kyungsoo to stare him down properly, and Kyungsoo was slightly amused to note that he was slightly too short to be really intimidating.

“You must be new around here,” said the man, “so I’ll give you a chance to rethink that. A friendly word of advice… You should think hard before saying things that could get you into trouble.”

“The only thing I _think_ is that you should probably pay for stuff you and your cronies destroy,” Kyungsoo said. “I mean, if you can figure out how currency works and all that. Maybe someone can help you with the bigger numbers.”

The man’s hand went to his sword hilt. His eyes were furious, but he kept a huge mock-friendly smile on his face. The fruit stall owner was now watching the entire thing from behind his hands, and Kyungsoo saw out of the corner of his eye that the entire street seemed to be watching with horrified fascination. He felt slightly uncomfortable, like something wasn’t quite right here, but he held his ground. He hadn’t come here to make a scene, but something about this group just rubbed him the wrong way. Standing by and watching casual abuse of power was not something Kyungsoo could easily stomach, and he doubted anyone had ever stood up to these guys before. He felt slightly better about his decision then.

“Alright,” the man in front of him was saying, “I gave you a chance to take your words back gracefully, but it looks like you want me to make you eat them instead.”

“What, _you_?” Kyungsoo laughed, though he eyed the sword with some trepidation. “Do you need me to stand downhill from you so you can reach?”

That got an eye twitch. With a gesture, the man borrowed another sword from one of his companions and tossed it at Kyungsoo.

“Here,” he said. “You might want that.”

Kyungsoo sighed. “Look, I’m not going to fight you. You’ve already made a fool of yourself in front of everyone, so why not just deal with it like a mature adult and stop making a scene?”

“People like you need to be taught a lesson,” the other man said, twirling his own sword idly. “Need to learn your place and all that.”

He took another menacing step forward, making Kyungsoo back up rapidly as people behind him scurried to get out of the way. He didn’t even particularly mean to do it, but a box off to the side, about shin-high, jerked suddenly out onto the path and Kyungsoo realized that he’d unconsciously magicked it there. No one else seemed to have noticed, though, since they were too busy gasping over the sudden spill it had caused for his opponent. Kyungsoo edged around to the side and picked up the other sword. He wasn’t sure how to use it or anything, but it seemed safer to have something in his hands after this. Still, it was funny and the jab left his tongue before he could stop it.

“Maybe you could use the box to stand on,” he suggested. “If you ask nicely, I’ll stand still and you can try to get a good swing in.”

He only got a growl in response. Kyungsoo had to dodge a fist since his opponent had dropped his sword when he fell. Kyungsoo slid back between the roadside stalls, trying to get some cover, but that only resulted in a chase through the wooden shops and assorted hanging goods. Kyungsoo winced when the retrieved sword sliced through what he thought were some very nice swathes of cloth at a stall full of woven goods. Apparently the owner thought so too, since she let out a cry of dismay and clutched the tattered ends. Kyungsoo frowned and this time it was no accident when a nearby bucket of iron tools came clattering down onto the other man’s head. Kyungsoo ducked to avoid anyone seeing what he knew was a sudden flash of gold in his eyes. Self-defense or no, he was in Camelot now, and it could only get him into more trouble if someone saw him using magic. Anyway, he had more important things to worry about, like the wild swing he saw coming towards him, which he quickly blocked with a broomstick he spotted leaning against a nearby counter. The sword bit into the wood and stuck there, so it only took a flick of the wrist for his opponent to disarm him, and Kyungsoo scrambled backwards over the cobbles, looking around for something else he could use. He spotted a hanging set of chains, which he quickly tangled around the sword when it came up for another swing, and he laughed when it jerked out of the other man’s hands to swing back and forth over his head. Kyungsoo might have ensured that it swung a little bit higher than the man could reach, but he didn’t think anyone in his position could be blamed for taking such an opportunity to make their aggressor jump so comically up and down, getting increasingly more angry each time he failed to retrieve his weapon. Even in the middle of the nervous muttering, Kyungsoo could hear snatches of muffled laughter from the crowd that had followed them here. He stood up and bowed dramatically.  
“Yes, yes, thank you! This has been your street theater for the day! Please visit all our lovely businesses and make sure not to screw them out of their wares!”

He waved and bowed over and over again, and almost missed the stares going over his head right before he was hit very hard. The group of guards had formed a barrier across the road behind Kyungsoo and their leader had retrieved the broomstick he had snatched from Kyungsoo and was now proceeding to wallop him thoroughly with it. A sharp blow across the shoulders was followed up immediately by one to his rear end and back, until he doubled over and collapsed under a sharp crack to the skull. Kyungsoo’s eyes watered, but he could see the figure standing over him even as he clutched his aching head.

“Guards,” the other man said haughtily, “I command you to seize him and clap him in chains for his insolence.”

He sounded just as pompous and smug as the voice in Kyungsoo’s dream. Kyungsoo thought that it felt highly unfair to have self-important assholes telling him what to do at every turn.

“Pretty sure you can actually be imprisoned yourself for impersonating royalty,” he snapped peevishly.

“Yeah?” came the reply as Kyungsoo was hauled to his feet. Kyungsoo could _hear_ the smirk. “Well, I know for a _fact_ that you can be thrown in the dungeon for mocking royalty, _so_...”

Kyungsoo’s clever plan started to seem like worse and worse of an idea.

“Nice to meet you,” the man smiled. “I’m Prince Junmyeon. And you’re an idiot.”

Well, shit.

 

All in all, it could have been worse, Kyungsoo decided. He had pissed off royalty through a misplaced sense of civil heroism and had managed to get away with only a couple lumps and bruises and some smelly straw to sleep on. Of course, he had no idea how long he was expected to stay in this cell, but he was prepared to grovel and play up the “ignorant rustic” angle as much as need be to get him out of this. Like it or not, he still had a mission to fulfill, and that was to find this once and future king and keep him safe. Having now met the crown prince of Camelot, Kyungsoo had to hope that this wasn’t the person he was supposed to dedicate his life to, because if it was then he had half a mind to just pack up and head back home. There was still this strange tug in his mind, though, like there was a thread connecting the inside of his head to something very close by. It had gotten better since he entered the city, like he was getting closer and the line wasn’t pulled quite so taut anymore, but if he left the city again, he thought the sensation might eventually drive him insane. Kyungsoo sighed, lying back on his arms in the straw. The faint chatter in the back of his mind had quieted somewhat as well, so all in all he found himself more comfortable here in the city than he had been in a while. It was like there were two parts of him—the normal village boy who was overwhelmed and skittish in an unfamiliar crowded city, and the magical part of him which was no longer on edge and straining for something so far in the distance. Kyungsoo was not one to be idle, so he started coming up with plans for whenever he got out of his current predicament. He would have to find somewhere to stay and some way to make a living since he could no longer count on food appearing at his table simply for being present during regular farmland chores. For the first time he wished that he had spent more time learning an actual productive skill, like metalworking or something like that. He could always make a few coins moving boxes and barrels for various merchants, he supposed, but he had spent his entire childhood reading rather than working in the fields and he rather doubted he’d be very useful in that area. He sat up. That was an idea though. He could read and write, so there was bound to be work for someone with those skills. He had a fairly good head for numbers, so he could always do bookkeeping if he had to. He would just have to go through the more permanent businesses in the city, preferably those who had not seen the mess he’d gotten himself into today, and see who needed assistance of a more scholarly nature. Satisfied with his plan, Kyungsoo lay back and let himself drift off to sleep.

The next morning he was shaken awake by another guard in a red cape who told him to get up and led him out of the cell. Kyungsoo was apparently not free to go wherever he liked though, since he was flanked by two more guards and taken through several winding hallways back up and out of the building.

“So, where are we going?” Kyungsoo asked. The guard to his left just laughed, but the one on his right managed to turn his laugh into a cough long enough to reply.

“The prince decided you had guts, so you’re getting a relaxed punishment,’ he said.

So he wasn’t off the hook just yet. Kyungsoo’s speculation as to exactly what counted as a “relaxed” punishment got an answer when they came out into one of the large market squares just outside the high castle walls, where a large wooden board was standing just ahead. Oh. Kyungsoo thought that the stocks were probably a better deal than a million years of dungeon, but the number of people waiting around was slightly intimidating. Once he was securely locked into the wooden yoke, the fruit vendor from the day before came up to him carrying a huge basket of suspicious-looking fruit which he set about twenty feet in front of Kyungsoo’s face.

“Sorry,” the man told him. “The prince was really particular about this part. He wanted me to tell you that he paid for them and everything.” He leaned in to whisper conspiratorially. “Don’t worry, I made sure they were mostly the really bruised and mushy ones. Nothing too hard or spiky.”

Kyungsoo braced himself for the oncoming storm of produce. Most of the people throwing stuff, he noticed, were either guards in red capes, probably getting a bit of amusing revenge for the day before, and very small children. Many other people gathered to watch without throwing anything, and Kyungsoo thought that they looked mostly goodnatured and pleased to see him, so he waved and smiled as a particularly overripe tomato hit the side of his head. The fruit vendor stayed nearby to replenish the baskets and to make conversation, which Kyungsoo was grateful for. Kyungsoo learned that his name was Chanyeol and got the impression that he was generally a cheerful and exuberant person to be around, at least judging from the way he was laughing uproariously over some of the particularly splattery things that landed on Kyungsoo. He called out scores for the children and organized contests to see who could make the biggest mess and land the most direct shots, but even as the butt of the massive joke, Kyungsoo couldn’t help but laugh along with the rest of them. When the sun started to get too hot, Chanyeol awarded the winner of the latest contest with a bucket of water to dump over Kyungsoo’s head, and he thoughtfully draped a cloth over Kyungsoo’s neck to keep it from getting too badly burned. Hours and hours passed, but at least it was more exciting than sitting in a stone room and counting the number of black beetles he saw running in the cracks between the flagstones.

Around the time the sun started to disappear behind the surrounding rooftops, the guards decided that Kyungsoo had served his time and one of them unlocked the padlock to let him out. Kyungsoo leaned back and twisted, hearing each of his vertebrae crack and pop back into place. Chanyeol was still waiting nearby to gather up his baskets, which he did before turning to Kyungsoo with a smile and inviting him back to his house for dinner. Kyungsoo’s stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten a single thing since before The Confrontation yesterday, so he accepted gratefully. It turned out that Chanyeol lived in a small house attached to the ones on either side, so that it looked like a single whitewashed wall with multiple doors and windows peeking out all in a row, right behind where his stall had been set up the day before.

“I like to be able to move it around a little bit, he explained, kicking open the door with one foot since his arms were full of basket. “Some of the people all the way on the other side of the city don’t tend to come all the way over here, at least not very often, and they have to want fruit too, you know? So if I have a cart, I can just bring the fruit to them!”

Kyungsoo nodded, his arms also full of baskets. The room inside was fairly simply decorated, but something about it seemed almost as friendly as Chanyeol himself.

“We’re back!” Chanyeol boomed, and the two people at the table inside jumped slightly.

“Oh, you brought him,” said the shorter of the two. He came over to Kyungsoo and relieved him of his basket load. “Hello, my name is Baekhyun. I’m sorry your first introduction to this city was Chanyeol. And, well… that other business.”

“You were there?” Kyungsoo winced.

“Saw the whole thing,” Baekhyun smiled reassuringly at him. “It was actually pretty impressive. I’m glad you stood up to him; he’s a bit of a bully sometimes, and heaven knows Chanyeol won’t tell him off.”

“You won’t either,” Chanyeol pointed out with a pout.

“Yeah, well. You can’t just tell off a prince without _consequences_.”

“Like getting put in the stocks and having rotten vegetables thrown at you?” Kyungsoo suggested, picking a bit of lettuce out from behind his ear.

“Like that.”

“Anyway,” said Chanyeol, “Yixing would tell him off, wouldn’t you, Yixing?”

He nudged his second friend, whom Kyungsoo assumed to be Yixing, with his elbow. Yixing smiled faintly and continued setting out plates on the table.

“Yixing would tell anyone off, though,” argued Baekhyun. “I’m pretty sure he sasses the king on a regular basis.”

“That would be unwise,” said Yixing quietly, but he was still smiling.

“Do you tell the prince off, though?” Kyungsoo asked curiously. Yixing stopped, tilting his head to the side.

“I suppose I do,” he said. “Junmyeon doesn’t seem to overly mind it, though.”

“Yixing is the royal physician,” explained Baekhyun. “He’s pretty much in tight with all the important people up in the palace. Probably because he’s had to deal with all their embarrassing illnesses at one point or another.”

“They’re really not all that bad,” Yixing said, causing Baekhyun to scoff.

“That’s the first batch of fruit His Royal Highness has paid Chanyeol for in as long as I can remember,” said Baekhyun. “No, wait. He paid for that truckload of apples the week before last.”

“I think the king paid for those actually,” Chanyeol said. “I think he was just bringing the money down to make a good impression.”

“Oh, then yeah. I can’t remember the last time he paid us for fruit. The point is, _you_ -” Baekhyun turned sharply to Kyungsoo, jabbing a finger at him, “What did you _do_ yesterday? Don’t forget, I saw everything.”

Kyungsoo gulped. His heart started racing, even as he told himself that Baekhyun meant the ill-advised confrontation and not… anything else more specific and damning. “What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean,” Baekhyun said. “You’re not going to tell me inanimate objects were leaping to your aid just because you’re so charming. I know what I saw. That was magic, wasn’t it?”

Kyungsoo was definitely panicking now. He looked around for a polite way to excuse himself, but Baekhyun seemed to anticipate his escape attempt, instead ushering him further into the room with a firm grip on his arm and sitting him down in a chair.

"Now, don't worry," Baekhyun assured him, "We're not going to turn you in or anything. Your secret's safe with us. But don't think you can get away, either."

"I don't know what you're talking about," insisted Kyungsoo. Baekhyun could promise all he wanted, but Kyungsoo knew his safest bet would be to keep all knowledge of his power strictly to himself. "How would I know anything about magic?"

Baekhyun moved so suddenly that Kyungsoo jumped in his chair. Baekhyun's elbow jerked out into the cup sitting next to him on the table, sending the ceramic flying over the edge, and Kyungsoo could feel the unconscious surge of magic bubbling up a split second before the cup hung frozen in midair. Both Baekhyun and Chanyeol, who had dove to catch the cup with a yelp, were staring dumbfounded at the object, but Yixing sat across the table from Kyungsoo the entire time, his gaze never wavering. Kyungsoo knew there was no way Yixing could have missed the gold flash that always accompanied Kyungsoo's magic and turned his eyes bright. The cup resumed its downward plummet a moment later, once Kyungsoo reigned in his instincts, but luckily by that point Chanyeol was close enough to catch it before it hit. He made a sad face at the puddle of water all over the floor and his arms.

"Interesting," said Yixing.

"You're telling me," Baekhyun whistled.

"What?" Kyungsoo demanded. His hands were shaking. He knew it was pointless to keep denying anything now. "What's interesting?"

"You didn't use any verbal spells or incantations," Yixing frowned, chin in hand as he leaned on the table. "At least, not that I heard. Have you mastered nonverbal casting? Who taught you to do that?"

Kyungsoo was confused. "No one? I don't know any spells, no one's taught me anything."

"Nothing?" Baekhyun pressed. "You've had no training at all? How do you do that?"

"I don't know?" Kyungsoo was becoming increasingly disoriented by all the questions. This was not how he'd expected a revelation of his powers to go. "I don't really think about it. It just... happens."

"So what you're saying is it's purely instinctual?"

"I guess?"

Baekhyun exchanged meaningful glances with Yixing.

"A 'warlock unlike any other,'" Yixing murmured. "Indeed he is."

"What are you two talking about?" Chanyeol sounded exasperated. He went largely ignored, so he huffed and went off to stir something simmering in a large pot over the fire to one side of the room.

"Yixing, haven't you been saying that you needed an assistant?" prompted Baekhyun.

"I have," Yixing agreed. "Kyungsoo, if you're new to Camelot, you'll be looking for room and board. How would you like to come stay with me?"

"No, that's fine!" Kyungsoo hurried to say. "I'm sure I can find work and a room somewhere. I wouldn't want to... impose."

"You've already made yourself quite infamous for that little scene yesterday," hummed Yixing, "so unless you were planning to get yourself into the castle dungeons _every_ night, you might have some trouble locating someone on this side of the city who will house you."

"Then I'll go to the other side of the city," said Kyungsoo firmly. Baekhyun sighed.

"The thing is," he said. "That we've been waiting for you for some time now. Not you, specifically-" he added, seeing Kyungsoo's face, "but someone like you, who can use magic in a way unlike anyone else."

"There are a few holdouts and repositories of magical objects," Yixing continued. "I happen to know of several, including a book which has come into my possession. Most of it is just a regular spellbook, which is fairly useless to me—I have no talent for magic of any significance—but at the back it contains what appear to be several interesting prophecies. They're written in the Old Language and are quite extensive, but I've managed to translate bits and pieces."

"What does any of this have to do with me?" Kyungsoo asked.

"As Baekhyun said, we've been waiting for someone with magical powers as unusual as your own," explained Yixing. "The sections of the book that I've been able to decipher talk about a time of great threat to Camelot, coming sometime in the near future. A lot of it is confusing, but it mentions 'a warlock unlike any other; magic in blood, not in book' as well as the image of two dragons waking under the mountain, whose war will shake the earth. I wondered if part of that could refer to the Pendragon family, though I have no idea why it mentions _two_ dragons. It does spend a great deal of time expounding on the idea of a ruler who appears over and over again, whom it calls 'the once and future king.'"

Kyungsoo, who had been starting to tune out Yixing's rambling, sat bolt upright at that.

"The _what_?" he choked.

"The once and future king?" Yixing repeated. "Have you heard of him? I can't figure out anything about him, but the book seems to assume that the reader already knows all about him. Since it's in such close proximity to the dragon imagery, I suspect it might be someone in the royal family."

"I don't know anything more than you," Kyungsoo admitted, "but I've heard that name before. That's... it's actually why I came to Camelot." As reluctant as he was to further reveal his powers and get himself wrapped up in whatever prophecy Yixing was caught up in, this was the first solid lead Kyungsoo had gotten about where his dream voice might be taking him. "I've been having these dreams for years now, but I've just recently figured out what they were saying. Whoever this king is, I think I'm supposed to find him and serve him somehow."

"See, this _is_ interesting!" said Baekhyun. "What are the odds you'd both run into the exact same phrasing unless you were both looking for the same thing?"

"He's got a point," said Chanyeol, deciding to contribute to the conversation for the first time. "It sounds like you're both headed the same way, as it were, so why not see what you can do to help each other out? And anyway, if Yixing can't use most of the spellbook, why not let Kyungsoo take a crack at it? That way you both win."

Yixing met Kyungsoo's eyes and nodded. "That sounds fine to me."

Personally, Kyungsoo thought he'd prefer to stay with someone like Chanyeol than with someone who stared at him as disconcertingly as Yixing did. Something about the offer intrigued him, though, and the promise of getting to look at an actual spellbook and maybe finally understand something more concrete about his magic was no small part of that. He nodded as well.

"That settles it then!" Baekhyun clapped his hands, pleased. "Chanyeol, is dinner ever going to be ready?"

"I've been waiting here this whole time for you to notice the soup's ready," Chanyeol complained. "You just wouldn't stop talking."

"Sorry, Chanyeol," Yixing said, smiling apologetically. "Let's eat before it gets cold, instead of discussing all this on an empty stomach."

The meal was good, though Kyungsoo suspected he could have eaten just about anything. Apparently getting rotten produce flung at your head all day was tiring work, and the enervation that spread over his limbs was one he recognized as coming from a day spent outside under the sun, compounded now by a full stomach. He had a much harder time getting back up to the castle than he had had coming out of it that morning.

The bed that Yixing led him to threatened to swallow him whole, which Kyungsoo was more than happy to let happen. He took the book when Yixing handed it to him, tucking it under the mattress unopened, and was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, sinking immediately into blissful unconsciousness. As the night wore on, the dreams started to surface again. Kyungsoo could feel himself being tugged upwards out of empty blackness into scattered images and the sound of the familiar voice. This time the images in his dreams were scenes of massive winged serpents rolling and wrestling in caverns until the walls and ceiling shook and rocks clattered to the cavern floor around them. They turned into painted and embroidered flags after that. Battle standards, Kyungsoo thought, for the armies he saw fighting all around him. From where he stood on a tall hilltop, he recognized one of the flags now as the Pendragon emblem, but he had never seen the other one before. Two dragons, gold and black, fought in the sky above the armies. Whenever one of them gained the upper hand, one of the armies would seem to have the advantage, but when the other dragon recovered itself, so did the opposing army. The golden dragon crashed to the ground in a pool of red blood as the Pendragon army faltered and broke. Kyungsoo could see them fleeing around the huge flanks of the fallen dragon, and watched as the black serpent stood ready to deliver the killing blow. Two armored figures stood between the two dragons, swords at the ready, but the knight wearing the colors of Camelot seemed to be hurt and he struggled to keep his feet. There was a flash from another hilltop opposite Kyungsoo, behind which he could just barely make out another figure, standing as if to mirror Kyungsoo. At the same time, an answering flash came from jewels around the necks of the black dragon and the knight in black armor, which had gone unnoticed until that moment. The black knight raised his sword to strike Camelot's champion, who now had taken off his helmet to gasp for breath, and recognition hit Kyungsoo like a punch to the gut.

It was Junmyeon.

Kyungsoo heard himself cry out, both hands coming up to glow with more power than he had ever wielded before in his life. The scene swam before his eyes, fading black around the edges, no matter how hard Kyungsoo tried to hold on to it, to see what the outcome would be. The sounds congealed together, flowing into one to form the voice that Kyungsoo now dreaded to hear.

"Your destiny lies on this path, young warlock," it said. "Protect the Pendragon. Protect the once and future king."

Kyungsoo's eyes flew open. He was lying on his back with both arms raised in front of him, the way they had been in the dream. There was a circle of scorched wood on the rafters above, still smoking from whatever Kyungsoo had thrown at it in his sleep. Clearly not as powerful a spell as whatever he'd been using in his dream, which was something to be grateful for, he supposed. He was still staring at the ceiling in shock when Yixing burst through the door, stumbling slightly over the threshold in his haste.

"What is it?" He sounded on the edge of panic. "You shouted and- what happened? What did you do to the ceiling?"

Kyungsoo let his arms fall to the bed on either side of him, lying there for a beat longer before rolling over and writhing on the bed with his face smushed into the pillow.

"Kyungsoo, what is it?" Yixing came over to the bed and grabbed his arm. "Kyungsoo, answer me! _Are you alright?_ "

Kyungsoo raised his head long enough to wail in frustration.

" _Why did it have to be that asshole?_ " he demanded of the universe at large before slamming his face back down into the pillow and screaming furiously.

 

It took a while to communicate the reason for his distress to Yixing, considering that for the first fifteen minutes or so Kyungsoo was too busy cursing every natural, supernatural, divine, and cosmic power that might ever have existed for plotting to ruin his life to actually convey any actual information, but even once he had heard the dream’s content, Yixing seemed remarkably unsympathetic to the fact that Kyungsoo was apparently destined to spend his live covering the ass of a pompous brat of a prince. He was far more interested with what the dueling dragons might symbolize and the implications of the other figure than with Kyungsoo’s mental well-being or the prospect of Kyungsoo dedicating his life to someone who had tried to wallop him with a sword.

“Are you forgetting the part where he hates me?” Kyungsoo asked incredulously.

“Junmyeon’s not actually that bad once you get to know him,” Yixing waved a hand. “He’s a little full of himself sometimes and yes, you got off on the wrong foot, but his heart’s in the right place. Maybe he just needs someone like you around to point him in the right direction.”

Kyungsoo grumbled. “More than a little full of himself, if you ask me.”

Yixing simply smiled and urged Kyungsoo to finish up his breakfast.

“We’re going to have a lot to do today,” he said, “and the sooner we start, the better.”

He wasn’t exaggerating. As soon as Kyungsoo finished eating, Yixing had him cleaning up all traces of food so that he could spread out a vast assortment of bowls, pitchers, vials, bottles, and other containers, many of them containing ingredients Kyungsoo had never seen before in his life. Just about any space left free on the table after that was covered with pages of notes and stacks of books. Kyungsoo tried to flip through one but Yixing slapped his hands away before sending him off to bring back several buckets full of water. As Yixing worked to assemble various cures, he explained the entire process step-by-step to Kyungsoo, pointing out where in his notes it listed each of the remedies. As he handed things to Yixing one by one under careful direction, Kyungsoo found that many of the ingredients he actually _had_ heard of, but they had been modified or prepared in some way as to make them largely unrecognizable. He recognized even more names from the reading he had done as a child, now finally able to give them a visual. Yixing’s words filled in many of the blanks in Kyungsoo’s knowledge as far as herblore went, connecting many dots he’d never associated before, and he came away with an overall far more complete picture than he’d started with.

Just when Kyungsoo’s eyes were blurring and his head felt like it was about to burst, Yixing sat back and announced that they were done mixing up remedies for the day. Kyungsoo sighed with relief, which turned out to come a moment too soon. Yixing dropped a bag into his lap and told him to start carefully packing up the mixtures that were finished so that they could make their delivery rounds. Kyungsoo followed Yixing all through the upper town before following him back up through the gates and throughout the castle itself, squinting at Yixing’s spindly writing on the bottles and labels as they distributed the medicine. Yixing introduced him to each person they delivered to, all the while explaining directions and ways to remember various locations that Kyungsoo found more confusing than helpful, though he refrained from saying so. Finally they were down to the last delivery. Kyungsoo hefted the jar in his hands as he read the label.

“‘Ointment for bruises and aches,’” he read out. “Who’s this for?”

“This would be for the prince,” Yixing said lightly, watching Kyungsoo’s face. He caught Kyungsoo’s arm as he turned to beat a hasty retreat. “Oh, no. You’re coming with me.”

“Why?” Kyungsoo asked, still trying to sneak away. “He hates me, remember? What good will possibly come of me delivering him this- wait,” he paused. “Why does the prince need something for bruises? This sounds like he got _beat up_ or-”

Yixing’s face was serene. “I’m sure he has quite a lot of knocks from combat training and the like. It’s not at all unusual for a prince to catch a few lumps in the course of a day’s work.”

“All right,” Kyungsoo smiled. “This I’ve got to see.”

Yixing led the way, and Kyungsoo stood to the side with the jar as Yixing knocked politely on the door. He pushed it open when they heard a voice from inside call out ‘enter’, walking confidently across the stone floor while Kyungsoo tried to stay as much behind him as possible. Junmyeon was sitting at a table near the window, picking at a plateful of food, and he barely glanced up enough to see who it was.

“How are you feeling today, your highness?” asked Yixing cheerfully.

“Like someone walloped me over the head,” Junmyeon complained. Kyungsoo bit back a smile. “Have you got anything for this goose egg someone left on my skull?”

“I think I have just the thing.” Yixing gestured Kyungsoo forward. “This ointment was designed to bring down swelling and soothe aches. I didn’t realize you needed something specifically for your head, so it might be a little hard to wash out, but it will still help.”

Junmyeon didn’t seem to hear a word Yixing was saying. He stared at Kyungsoo like his eyes were about to fall out of his head. Kyungsoo kept a vague pleasant smile on his face which he had to struggle to keep from becoming a laugh, since Junmyeon seemed offended and betrayed by his very presence there.

“Yixing,” Junmyeon finally managed, through clenched teeth, “what is _he_ doing here?”

“Kyungsoo is my new assistant,” Yixing said easily. Kyungsoo nodded graciously, pleased by the way this made Junmyeon splutter. “He’s been helping me mix my remedies all day, and I decided to show him the way around the castle, since he’ll be staying here.”

Junmyeon glared. “Perhaps you don’t know yet, but your new little assistant is the reason I-” he stopped and bit his tongue before he could say any more. “He insulted me publicly, you know. He’s an insolent troublemaker, and who’s to say he didn’t piss in the ointment? I wouldn’t put it past him.”

“I wouldn’t stoop so low,” Kyungsoo sniffed. “Though, I mean, even if _I_ didn’t piss in it-”

He trailed off meaningfully. Yixing coughed to hide a surprised laugh at Junmyeon’s face.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Junmyeon demanded.

“I just think you probably don’t want to know what goes into your joint cream here,” Kyungsoo shrugged. “Gotta decide whether the creaking and aches are worth the risk here.”

Junmyeon snatched the jar away from him.

“You’re lying,” he said, unscrewing the lid and sniffing it tentatively. “There’s nothing suspicious about this at all, is there? Yixing?”

“As your highness says,” Yixing bowed. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”

Kyungsoo didn’t miss the tactful phrasing, though it seemed that it had largely escaped Junmyeon, who was now smearing it on his shoulder and smirking.

“You’ve got a lot to learn if you think you can pull one over on me,” Junmyeon told him. “You’re not nearly as clever as you think.”

“Of course,” Kyungsoo imitated Yixing’s bow. “The second lesson this week. I’m learning fast.”

He followed Yixing out of the room before collapsing against the wall in laughter.

“I thought you might like to be there for that,” Yixing said mildly, his tone carefully _not_ full of ‘I told you so.’

“I think helping a physician has made me less likely to want any medicine at all,” Kyungsoo said. “Knowing exactly what goes into it kind of puts you off to the whole idea.”

“Never become a chef,” advised Yixing. Kyungsoo pulled a face.

“Noted.”

 

The next day Yixing set him to checking up on the medicines that required a longer period of preparation. He called out colors for various liquids, poked to check the consistency of others, and filtered out particles that collected on the surface of others, while Yixing made notes of each one in chalk on the massive board he kept off to one side of the room for that very purpose. It was important, he explained to Kyungsoo, he keep a written record of every concoction, to speed up or improve the process for the future. Kyungsoo thought it was probably more to keep track of the massive volume of medicine being produced, but he kept that to himself. They spend most of the day this way, interrupted occasionally by knocks on the door leading to the outside. There were two doors in and out of Yixing’s quarters; one leading into the castle, and one which could be accessed from the town. It was this second one that their visitors were coming today, and Yixing did whatever he could to provide small cures to aid the townsfolk. Most of them could not afford to pay, though that didn’t stop them from offering. Yixing turned down whatever payment he could, or bargained them down to some trifling amount, often asking for some worthless, easily found weed from their gardens, which he told them was vital for his work. He got baskets and baskets full of dandelions, for example. Yixing dutifully packed away as much as he could into his ingredient cabinets and then sent Kyungsoo to get rid of the rest.

Kyungsoo ended up taking a basket of dandelion leaves to the kitchens, to be used in salad, and found everyone there scrambling all over to produce more food than he had ever seen before in his life. When he asked a maid what was going on, she looked at him like he was stupid.

“The feast, of course,” she said. “It’s less than a day away now. Of course we’re busy.”

She shooed him out of the room, back down to Yixing’s rooms, where he saw Yixing bowing an old man out of the door. He had another handful of dandelions.

“Why do you keep taking more of those?” Kyungsoo asked. “There’s no way we can use all of them, even if we hand them out to everyone in the castle. There’s got to be something else out there.”

“These are common and easy to find,” Yixing said. “They want to feel like they’re repaying me for the medicine I give them, but most of them don’t have the time to go looking for anything rarer. At least this way their gardens are getting a good weeding at the same time.”

“I guess so,” sighed Kyungsoo, “but you’re going to overwork yourself. They’re running around almost as much as you down there in the kitchens. What’s this feast they’re getting ready for?”

“Nothing particularly special, I don’t think,” Yixing said. “It’s that time of the year when traveling entertainers come through Camelot, so the king likes to invite them into the palace for a night. It’s mostly a chance for everyone to relax.”

“Everyone except the kitchen staff.” Kyungsoo tossed a dandelion blossom from hand to hand. “Well, have fun with that. Does this mean I can have the night off?”

“In a manner of speaking,” said Yixing. “All the castle servants are supposed to serve at the feast that night. You won’t be working for me, exactly.”

“Are you kidding me?” Kyungsoo stopped to stare. “I don’t count as a castle servant, do I?”

“You serve me, and I serve the king,” Yixing pointed out. “Purely from the hierarchy of things, it does put you firmly in servant territory.”

“When exactly were you planning on telling me this?”

“When it came up. Which would be now.” Yixing dropped a stack of book into Kyungsoo’s arms. “If I were you, I would get to bed early tonight. Rest up for tomorrow.”

“I haven’t even had time to look at that book you gave me,” Kyungsoo complained. “How am I supposed to learn magic if you never give me any time to study?”

“The day after the feast everyone is usually in too much of a food stupor to do much,” Yixing told him. “I’ll leave you in charge of handing out medicines at the door, but other than that you should have the entire day free to read as much as you want.”

“I’m holding you to that,” Kyungsoo sighed, carrying the books away.

 

Preparing for a banquet apparently involved polishing far more silver than Kyungsoo even knew existed in the city. Halfway through his fourth punch bowl, Yixing appeared at his elbow to see how he was doing.

“Losing feeling in my arms,” Kyungsoo mourned. “How many of these do we even have?”

“I think you’ve only got two more lined up for you,” Yixing peered around his shoulder. “Then you appear to have an assortment of goblets and three platters.”

“Why am I stuck doing the polishing?” Kyungsoo asked. He cracked his back and groaned. “I think I’m polishing off my fingers.”

“Well, you could be stuck doing the linens,” Yixing pointed out. “There are still stains from last banquet that they’re trying to get out. At least dishes stay polished for more than one night.”

“Point,” Kyungsoo brandished a dishtowel. “After this, I think I’m on food carrying duty, but what’s my job for the night going to be?”

“Nothing too hard,” Yixing assured him. “I’ve got you lined up to be cupbearer. You just have to refill the wine and think your own deep Kyungsoo thoughts.”

Kyungsoo sighed with relief.

 

What Yixing failed to mention, of course, was the traditional livery prepared for the cupbearers of Camelot. Kyungsoo stood behind Yixing at the table in the Great Hall and blew the red plume out of his face with an irritated breath, glaring at Yixing the whole while.

“You never mentioned anything about feathers and tights,” he hissed.

Yixing waved at him to be quiet without even looking back. Kyungsoo could see Junmyeon look at him from across the table and smother a laugh in his hand. Kyungsoo seethed silently, staring instead at the performers in the center of the hall without really seeing them. He barely even registered when they took a moment out of their performance to exchange words with King Siwon where he sat at the head of the great table. They were saying something about the honor of performing for the court of Camelot, but Kyungsoo was too busy wondering if they knew what a royal pain in the ass Camelot’s prince was to really listen to the words. King Siwon presented them with several gifts and bid them sit at the table to rest and eat, which they gratefully accepted with another elaborate speech and several gifts in exchange. Kyungsoo watched them hand over two small chests, both covered in ornate carvings, containing matching silver goblets for the king and Junmyeon.

_Great,_ Kyungsoo thought. _More silver for me to polish. Thanks for that._

The speeches continued, and Kyungsoo tuned them out once again in favor of making unflattering comments in his head. It sounded like a lot of ass-kissing to him and anyway his legs hurt. Kyungsoo wondered exactly how much longer this was going to go on and how much longer it would be until he could sit down and eat himself. He missed Yixing’s signal for more wine several times before finally feeling a kick to his shin, blinking with surprise and almost dropping his pitcher.

“It’s time for a toast,” Yixing whispered. “Hurry up.”

As Kyungsoo refilled Yixing’s cup, he almost dropped his pitcher once again, distracted by the sight that had caught his eye directly across. He had been avoiding looking at Junmyeon all night long, but now he found himself unable to look away, his gaze drawn towards the prince with growing unease turning into horror. Junmyeon stood ready for the toast, as did the entire hall, but his cup appeared to be overflowing with some sort of black smoke. It poured out of the cup and over his fingers, trickling like something oily and sticky towards the floor. Kyungsoo looked around to see if anyone else had noticed, but they all seemed unconcerned. A sick smell wafted up to Kyungsoo’s nose, something full of putrid rot, and he saw tendrils of the smoke drifting all the way across the floor. Still, no one batted so much as an eyelash. The leader of the traveling troupe was just finishing up his toast, leaving only moments until Junmyeon drank from whatever was in that goblet. As much as Kyungsoo disliked Junmyeon, he knew he would never wish whatever was in that cup on him, so he looked around desperately for some way to stop him. Nothing sprang to mind, and he watched Junmyeon raise the cup in salute before bringing it towards his lips.

“Wait!”

Kyungsoo really did drop the pitcher then. Junmyeon stopped, startled by the loud crash, and stared at Kyungsoo like he was crazy, which Kyungsoo thought he probably looked.

“Don’t drink it!” Kyungsoo said, more forcefully than he felt now, with the eyes of everyone in the hall on him. Yixing’s mouth hung open in shock.

“And why on earth not?” Junmyeon demanded.

“There’s something wrong with it,” Kyungsoo said. “It’s been poisoned or something. I don’t know how, but don’t drink it.”

“This is a serious charge,” said Siwon, narrowing his eyes at Kyungsoo. “What makes you think there is anything wrong with the gifts our guests have given us?”

“I don’t know,” Kyungsoo said, and his voice shook slightly, “I just know there’s something not right. Whatever is in that cup, it’s meant to hurt him.”

“Your majesty,” Yixing cut in, standing up to take hold of Kyungsoo’s arm. “I apologize for my assistant. I gave him permission to drink the wine himself, thinking he needed some refreshment. I had no idea it would affect him like this.”

“I’m not _drunk_ , Yixing!” Kyungsoo snapped. “I know what I’m saying!”

“Shut up,” Yixing hissed in his ear. “What are you doing?”

“There’s something in that cup!” Kyungsoo whispered back furiously. “I don’t know, it’s magic or something. Yixing, _I can see it!_ ”

“Yixing, it might be wise to remove your assistant,” Siwon was saying, “before I am forced to take action.”

“Looks like making a fool of himself in public is the only thing he’s good at,” Junmyeon laughed raised an eyebrow. He lifted the goblet in mock-salute to Kyungsoo. “Take him off to bed, Yixing.”

Kyungsoo could see that he was going to drink it anyway, just to spite him. He threw off Yixing’s hand before sprinting around the corner of the table just in time to knock the cup away, out of Junmyeon’s hand entirely. Junmyeon shouted in angry surprise. He grabbed Kyungsoo by the collar and shook him.

“What the hell was that?” he yelled. “Are you in that much of a hurry to get yourself back into the dungeon, because believe me, I’ll be more than happy to oblige!”

He looked like he was about to call the guards to take Kyungsoo away once again, when a word from Yixing stopped him.

“Junmyeon, wait!” Yixing said sharply. “Look!”

They all turned to see what he was pointing at. The goblet had flown out of Junmyeon’s hand and landed on the table, splashing its contents all over the floral centerpiece, which now appeared to be wilting and sagging out of the vase, oozing slightly. Wherever the liquid had touched the silver vase, it was now black with tarnish, worse than it had been before the day’s polishing. Siwon stood up out of his chair, gaping at the sight.

“Seize them!” he ordered, pointing at the group of astonished travelers. “One of them is responsible for this!”

The troupe was escorted out in the direction of the dungeons amidst protestations from them and shocked murmurs from the rest of the court. Junmyeon’s hand dropped from Kyungsoo’s shirt, and Kyungsoo straightened it with as much dignity as he could muster. Said dignity wilted somewhat when the king turned to him.

“You knew,” Siwon said. “You knew somehow. I don’t know what sense allowed you to see this, but you have saved my son from what was certainly a plot on his life.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo shifted under his scrutiny, “It was nothing. I just had a bad feeling.”

“You must be rewarded for your action,” the king insisted. “Some honor fitting for your deed.”

Kyungsoo tried not to look too pleased at the prospect. “You really don’t have to, your majesty,” he said, trying to exude ‘humble servant of the king’ to piss Junmyeon off as much as possible.

“I will not let this go unrewarded,” King Siwon said. “From this day forward, you have a place in the royal household as personal manservant to the Crown Prince.”

“No, that’s perfectly al- _what?_ ” Kyungsoo stopped dead.

“Father!” Junmyeon sounded just as taken aback.

“Everyone, resume the feast!” Siwon announced, ignoring them completely. “And give this man a seat and a plate! He deserves a good meal before all else.”

Kyungsoo found himself led to a seat further down the hall and a plate gently placed in front of him. He looked up to the head of the room, and could see Yixing smiling at him in proud bewilderment even from this distance. Junmyeon still looked as shell shocked as Kyungsoo felt. It was nice to know he wasn’t the only one caught on the wrong foot by the king’s sudden proclamation. He ate in somewhat of a daze before excusing himself from the hall early. The king and prince had already left, so no one would fault him for trying to escape the revelry now. Instead he wandered the halls in what he thought was the direction of Yixing’s rooms, trying to wrap his head around this sudden “elevation” in position. It was true that personal assistants to royalty tended to get more in the way of privileges, and this _did_ place him in the perfect position to follow what everyone kept telling him was his destiny, but at the same time... Kyungsoo groaned. The prospect of spending his time, day in and day out, waiting on Junmyeon hand and foot seemed less than ideal. He could only hope that Yixing was right when he said that Junmyeon just took some getting used to, because he was going to have a lot of time to get used to him now. He fell asleep flipping halfheartedly through the spellbook, and if he dreamed, he remembered none of it.

 

Yixing shook him awake far earlier than he would have liked.

“What- why?” he mumbled. “Today’s my day off, isn’t it?”

“Today was your day off while you were still my assistant,” Yixing had the grace to sound apologetic. “As Junmyeon’s servant, you have duties to attend to now. Probably nothing more difficult than finding his pants where he flung them last night and making sure his food shows up on time.”

Kyungsoo had to get directions on how to get to Junmyeon’s chambers, but in just under ten minutes, he was stumbling down the hall, rubbing his eyes and yawning widely. He pushed open the door in the middle of a particularly huge yawn, setting off Junmyeon, who was sitting on the edge of his bed in the same rumpled shirt he’d been wearing the night before.

“For the love of all that’s good, stop that,” Junmyeon said. He sounded cranky. “I just stopped yawning and I don’t need you starting this again.”

“Sorry,” yawned Kyungsoo. Junmyeon gave him a look.

“Just… see where breakfast is,” he said tiredly, picking up a pair of pants to stare at it with an expression that was both sad and confused. Kyungsoo almost smiled despite himself. He looked far too much like a child who was too sleepy to think properly.

This fond train of thought was brought to a rather screeching halt when Junmyeon sent his breakfast back three times until the eggs and bacon were cooked to his satisfaction. Kyungsoo got his breakfast by eating the rejected food on the way to and from the kitchen, grumbling the whole time about princes with overdeveloped senses of entitlement. He came back the final time only to see the room completely torn apart, clothes tossed every which way. Someone had emptied out every scrap of cloth in the room into a massive pile in the center of the floor. Kyungsoo edged into the room, plate in hand, watching Junmyeon as he flung the entire contents of a chest over his shoulder.

"What on earth are you doing?" Kyungsoo asked. Junmyeon jumped.

"Ow." Junmyeon rubbed his head where he'd bumped it against the lid of the chest. "Trying to find a shirt. What does it look like?"

"It looks like you've entered the regional pigsty championships," Kyungsoo said frankly. "You have about a dozen shirts lying on the floor right here."

"Oh, shut up," Junmyeon pulled a face at him. He dropped one last armload of clothes on the floor before stepping over it all to take the plate of food from Kyungsoo. "I'm looking for a _particular_ shirt. I don't expect you to understand what it's like to own more than one."

Kyungsoo ignored the comment, instead kicking through drifts of clothes until he stubbed his toe hard.

"Is this a breastplate?" he wheezed in pain.

"I thought it might have gotten packed away with my armor last time," Junmyeon explained in between bites of bacon.

"You _emptied out the firewood bin_."

"Clothes get all kinds of crazy places. Don't ask me to explain it."

"Oh, I don't need you to explain anything," Kyungsoo muttered. "I understand all too well."

"Well, that's a relief," said Junmyeon, a second before he dropped his fork. "I've got it!"

"What?" Kyungsoo was bewildered.

"I completely forgot. That shirt got a huge rip in it, so I got rid of it. Of course I couldn't find it," Junmyeon laughed. He shook his head and went back to eating. Kyungsoo found himself at a loss for words. "I'm riding out in a minute," Junmyeon went on to say. "Just put all this back where it belongs."

"Half of these clothes are dirty now," Kyungsoo pointed out. "You dropped them in soot."

"Then take those ones off to the laundry," said Junmyeon, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And clean up the soot while you're at it. That shouldn't be there."

"Anything else, _your highness_?" Kyungsoo said dryly.

Junmyeon looked around. "Yeah, find me a shirt somewhere, will you?"

Kyungsoo chucked one at his head.

 

After Junmyeon had left, Kyungsoo stared for a long time at the mess he'd left behind him. This was not going to be any quick ten-minute job, he thought to himself, mentally waving goodbye to any hopes he'd been holding on to for some free time that day. Then he snapped his fingers. The day might not be completely lost, after all. Kyungsoo cleared up the dishes as quickly as he could, and, after he'd dropped them back off in the kitchens, made a detour around to Yixing's rooms. Yixing was nowhere in sight when Kyungsoo rummaged around under his mattress for the spellbook, which he stowed under his shirt for the trip back up the stairs to Junmyeon's room. He lay it open on the table and flipped through, scanning over each page.

"There's got to be something here in the realm of cleaning spells," he said. "They can't be too hard, and anyway the sooner I get practicing, the better, right?" He flipped over another page to see a spell 'for the polishing of mirrors.' "Sure could have used that yesterday. And that one." Kyungsoo tapped a finger against one 'for the revelation of poisons and other venoms.' Nothing caught his eye as being a spell particularly aimed at cleaning, though. He sighed. "It might almost be easier to do this by hand," he said, but then he looked again at the mounds of clothes piled all the way over the bed.

It took Kyungsoo a while, but he finally settled on one of the spells he came across in the book.

"'For the animation of objects,'" he read somewhat dubiously. "There is absolutely no way an entire wardrobe of animated clothing could go wrong. It says they're supposed to do what I say, so here goes nothing."

He read out the words of the spell, holding out a hand over the clothing dunes. When they started to shift slightly, shaking themselves like someone waking up from a nap, he took a few hurried steps back. The clothes didn't move much, but Kyungsoo had the vague impression of many tiny flickers of life, each connected to his mind, and each awaiting orders.

"Right," he said. "Well. Um... I guess, start by dividing yourselves into two stacks? Dirty clothes here and clean clothes over there on the bed." He tried to hold in his mind as clear an idea of what counted as dirty clothes as he could, hoping they would pick up on it, which they did fairly quickly. Kyungsoo beamed. "Alright," he said. "Clean clothes go back wherever it is you usually live."

At once they scattered to obey him, so Kyungsoo turned his attention to de-animating the pile of clothing to be cleaned. It probably wouldn't be too pleasant to be sent through a wringer, he thought. After that he turned his attention to the fireplace logs that Junmyeon had thrown out of their bin next to the hearth, making them leap one by one over the edge of the box, and by the time they were all stacked neatly back inside, the clothes were finished filing back into the wardrobes and drawers, and all that was left was to sweep up the debris Junmyeon had flung all over the floor. He directed the spell one more time at a broom standing in the corner before lounging back on a chair and flipping through the spellbook. He made notes of which spells he thought it would be useful to practice first, trying to start as small as he could, pleasantly lulled by the sound of the broom sweeping to and fro on the other side of the room.

After the spells, the book had a short section dedicated to magical and supernatural creatures of all different kinds. Kyungsoo only skimmed that section, coming away with the impression that he didn’t want to have to deal with any of them if he could possibly help it. After that came the collection of prophecies. Here Kyungsoo leaned in closer and tried to see if there was a single part of it he could decipher. It was all written in a language he didn’t understand, yet somehow there were entire phrases where he was sure that the meaning was just there at the edge of his mind, ready for him to grasp if only he could turn the right way and find it.

He was concentrating so hard that it took him a while to notice the repetitive dull thuds that had replaced the sound of the broom, so that by the time he looked up, the damage had already long since been done. Apparently letting your mind wander when it was supposed to be directing an animated object was not something you were supposed to do, because now the broom was bouncing back and forth between ceiling and floor. There was a loud smack and a cloud of soot dust every time it made impact, and Kyungsoo was horrified to see several black imprints standing out in stark monochrome on the whitewashed ceiling. He shouted out the counterspell, dodging out of the way when the broom came plummeting back down for the last time. It rolled gently next to his foot, then lay perfectly still.

Kyungsoo stared up hopelessly at the soot-covered ceiling. There was no way he could reach that on his own. He looked up a levitating spell, but found that he could only manage to lift a cleaning rag that far, and the erratically-moving cloth only smeared the soot across more of the ceiling, so he soon gave up. He obviously lacked the finesse required to enchant the ceiling clean. It took a while to clean it all by hand, but he did his best to make everything within his reach spotless before Junmyeon came back, in the hopes that it might distract from the ceiling, or at least mitigate the consequences. He ran armloads of clothes down the stairs to be washed, noting with some satisfaction that, even if nothing else, _that_ was something he'd done well. By the time Junmyeon came back into his room late that afternoon, the place looked cleaner than it probably had in a year at least, judging from the size of the dust bunnies cowering under the bed. Junmyeon stopped just inside the doorway in surprise.

"Wow," he said. "I didn't expect you to have it done so soon." Then, apparently realizing he'd said something positive about Kyungsoo, "I mean, considering you look like you've never seen a hairbrush in your life, let alone any other cleaning implements."

"Thanks," said Kyungsoo, "I think."

He continued what he was doing, brushing through the clothes hanging in Junmyeon's wardrobe to catch anything in need of laundering that might have slipped through. He winced when he heard Junmyeon's voice again.

"Kyungsoo?" His tone gave nothing away. Kyungsoo did his best to imitate it.

"Yes?" he replied.

"I'm curious," said Junmyeon, "about your method of waste disposal."

"What?"

Kyungsoo turned around in confusion. Junmyeon stood in the center of the room, arms folded, just staring back at him with a faint smile.

"I mean," he said, "how did all the soot from there-" he pointed to the stone floor "-get up _there_?"

Kyungsoo followed his finger up to the black stains still covering the ceiling and completely blanked. He groped for words.

"Well, I couldn't find a dustpan," he explained, for want of anything else to say.

Junmyeon blinked at him before finally doubling over with mirth. He laughed for a long time, while all the while Kyungsoo stood there awkwardly, unsure if he was supposed to laugh too or not. He chuckled uncertainly. Finally Junmyeon wiped his eyes with a sigh. He came over to sling an arm over Kyungsoo's shoulders, which took a slight bit of effort since Kyungsoo was slightly taller than him.

"That's incredible," Junmyeon said. "You're something else, you know that?"

"Um, thanks?" said Kyungsoo. "Does... this mean you're not upset?"

"Not like I have a whole lot to be upset about," Junmyeon shrugged. "Everything's picked up, the room is clean... and there happens to be some soot on the ceiling. All in all, could be worse." He looked around, satisfied. "Of course, you'll have to whitewash the ceiling again."

Kyungsoo froze. "What?"

"Well, obviously it can't just stay like that," said Junmyeon. "They should have supplies somewhere."

"You want me to reach _all the way up there_?" Kyungsoo asked incredulously.

"Ask someone for a ladder," Junmyeon shrugged again, flopping back onto his bed and kicking his boots off. "Off you go."

Kyungsoo pressed his lips together into a line. As he stalked out of the room, he heard Junmyeon laugh again to himself.

"'Couldn't find a dustpan.' Brilliant."

 

"-so then I spent the next three hours painting over his ceiling from the top of the most dangerous ladder I've ever seen in my life. And he has the nerve to complain that _watching_ me gives him vertigo."

Kyungsoo lay with his head on the table while Yixing rubbed his tired shoulders and listened to the tale of his woes.

"I bet this is all still revenge for that day in the market," Kyungsoo groaned.

"I doubt it," said Yixing. "If he said he wasn't upset, he probably wasn't. Junmyeon is just used to having things happen when he wants them to happen. I don't think he thought about you as anything more advanced than 'person who is going to make this happen for me.'"

"Oh, that's comforting," Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. "I'm glad I rate somewhere just above furniture in his head."

"Don't sell yourself short," Yixing patted his shoulder. "You probably rank somewhere higher than the cat."

"'Probably'?"

"Probably."

Kyungsoo rolled over so that his face was pressed into the tabletop.

"I don't think I can do this," he said.

"That's the spirit," said Yixing absently.

Kyungsoo paused. "Are you even listening anymore?" he asked.

"What?" Yixing blinked. "Oh. Sorry. I'm trying to figure out what would be the best thing to prescribe for a sort of rattling cough. King Siwon seems to be coming down with a cold."

"I would think the best thing to do would be to sleep it off," said Kyungsoo. "Drink plenty of broth and all that."

"Yes, I don't think that plan will go over very well with the king," sighed Yixing. "He wants something that will keep him on his feet. I've got to come up with something that _doesn't_ produce a soporific effect." 

"Good luck with that," Kyungsoo yawned. "I think I'll go to sleep. If today was any indication, I bet Junmyeon will have plenty for me to do tomorrow."

Yixing nodded. "Pass me that other book over there before you go?"

Kyungsoo handed it over. "Don't stay up too late," he told him.

Yixing waved him off with a mumbled 'good night,' so Kyungsoo left him to his work and was once again asleep within minutes of climbing into bed.

He was right in thinking that Junmyeon would keep him busy, but it turned out to be nothing as extreme as that first day had been. Junmyeon was in and out of the palace for most of the day, tracking down as much information as he could about the traveling entertainers who were currently kicking their heels in the dungeons, so he sent Kyungsoo back and forth as well, carrying messages and making any number of small deliveries. The further they got into the less reputable parts of the city, the less weight a royal name carried, but at the same time the mileage a small monetary incentive could get you only went up. Kyungsoo stood by while Junmyeon dropped a heavy gold coin into the hand of a man they had found in a back alley tavern near where the travelers had stayed. He told them that there had been one member of the group in particular who had kept his distance from the others, as if he wasn't very well acquainted with the rest of them. This on its own might have been unexceptionable, but the man also told them that this person had regular access to the caravans full of supplies, including the gifts prepared for the royalty of Camelot. Another coin got them a physical description—a huge, thuggish-looking individual, with at least two of his lower teeth missing right at the front of his mouth. Junmyeon swept out of the tavern, his company of red-cloaked guards in his wake, leaving Kyungsoo to hurry after them.

When they got to the dungeons, however, they found the man halfway buried under the straw covering the floor, shivering and muttering to himself. He appeared to be delirious with fever. Junmyeon ordered the guards with him to take the man to Yixing, but they were all at a loss as to what to do next. Junmyeon stayed to question some of the other prisoners, but Kyungsoo decided to follow their suspect. There was something about him that made Kyungsoo think twice, and Yixing was perplexed by the illness since, as far as he could tell, there was no real cause for it.

"I don't understand!" Yixing frowned. "He doesn't have a single other symptom. There's nothing but the fever to tell me what kind of sickness this is."

He had been working nonstop for close to an hour now, having sent everyone else away with the assurance that he would send word as soon as he had discovered something. The man had been mumbling the entire time about "silver cups" and "do not fail", so Kyungsoo thought it was safe to bet now that he was the culprit they were looking for. The only problem would be to see that he recovered enough to reveal who had sent him, which was looking tricky at the moment. He moaned fitfully again, causing Kyungsoo to lean in closer.

"Yixing?" he said, trying not to sound too alarmed. "What does it mean if he's breathing smoke?"

"What?" Yixing whirled around sharply at was at his side in an instant. "I don't see any smoke."

"Whenever he opens his mouth there's this faint trail of- Look! There!" Kyungsoo pointed. Yixing simply looked baffled. A moment later, Kyungsoo clapped both hands over his mouth and nose. "Ugh, do you smell that?"

"Smell what?" Yixing asked urgently. "I can't see or smell anything, Kyungsoo."

It was thick and sickly, like something rotten. It smelled like-

"Like the poison in the goblet," Kyungsoo gasped.

"What?"

"It smells like whatever was in the goblet to poison Junmyeon!" Kyungsoo choked. "It was so much stronger then, but I remember there was smoke coming out of the goblet too."

Yixing shook his head. "There was no smoke anywhere near the goblet. Not that I saw, anyway."

"But that doesn't make any sense," Kyungsoo said. He was pinching his nose now, but the smell that still leaked through was making his eyes water. "It was definitely there. That's how I knew something was wrong."

"I don't see how that could be possible," Yixing said. "Unless... Kyungsoo, do you think this could be magical in origin?"

"Is that possible?" he asked.

"I don't see why not," Yixing shrugged. "It would explain why he has no other symptoms. Maybe your innate powers let you see when some things are magically influenced—a sort of defense mechanism." He stood away from the table. "I wonder if there is any trace left on the flowers or the vase from the other night. I may be able to prove a connection without a doubt."

He moved to leave the room. Kyungsoo called out after him.

"How will that help anything?" he asked.

Yixing slung a bag of implements Kyungsoo had never seen before over his shoulder. "I'm not sure," he said, "but the more I know about what kind of poison this is, the more likely it is that I'll be able to produce an antidote. Make sure he doesn't die before I get back."

"And how exactly am I suppose to do _that_?" Kyungsoo complained, but the door had already closed.

Yixing did not return for some time, and Kyungsoo had time to change the cool cloth they were keeping on the man's forehead to keep the fever down several times before the door finally creaked open again. Yixing immediately cleared the table opposite, setting up several glass vials and various pieces of equipment. He produced a small bag from one of his many pockets, out of which he poured what looked like a lumpy powder.

"I managed to scrape the surface of the vase where the poison hit it and found some residue," he explained. "I'm sorry it took me so long, but the king had another coughing fit and this time I really did have to send him off to bed. He's stubborn, though, so it took a little bit of convincing."

"What will you be able to tell from this residue?" Kyungsoo asked.

"I'm not sure yet. I'm going to run it through every test I can think of, and see what that turns up. I can tell you one thing already, though," Yixing looked grim. "Whatever this poison is, it looked like it had partially burned the silver itself."

That night, Kyungsoo tossed in and out of dreams where he was back at the banquet, only this time he was unable to stop Junmyeon from drinking out of the poisoned cup, no matter how much he screamed and shouted. Someone held him back while Junmyeon opened his mouth and black smoke poured out, seconds before he burst into flame. Kyungsoo watched everyone else in the hall go up in smoke and fire, and when he turned around he saw the man they were treating looming over them. When he smiled, Kyungsoo could see the teeth missing, a black hole just above his lower lip that threatened to swallow Kyungsoo, then the two of them caught fire as well. Every time Kyungsoo woke up gasping, he peered out around his bedroom door, and every time he could see Yixing working by candlelight, bent over a book or vial, or tending to the poisoned man's fever. Just after dawn, Kyungsoo gave up. He dressed and came out if his room just in time to see Yixing draw the blanket up over the man's head.

"He didn't make it?"

Yixing startled at the sound of Kyungsoo's voice before dropping into a nearby chair.

"No, he didn't." Yixing sounded exhausted. "I don't know what I'm going to tell Siwon."

"You're not going to tell him anything," Kyungsoo said. He made a decision. "You're going to go to bed and _I'll_ tell him."

"That's very nice of you," Yixing smiled wanly, "but what makes you think he'll even speak to you?"

"I'll get Junmyeon to tell him then," said Kyungsoo firmly, "He'll have to listen to Junmyeon. You're going to get some sleep before you kill yourself, working like this."

He packed Yixing off to bed, making sure he was actually asleep before leaving to inform Junmyeon that their only lead had gone cold. Literally. Junmyeon took it as well as could be expected, considering the lengths he had been going to to get more information about the man. No one seemed to have been able to tell Junmyeon when he had joined the company or why they even allowed him to stay in the first place, especially when he didn't have any particular skills to display. All in all, it had been a frustrating time, as Junmyeon was happy to tell Kyungsoo at length. Kyungsoo smiled and nodded and made vague sounds of sympathy until Junmyeon agreed to pass the word on to his father. There wasn't much else to do, so Kyungsoo ran what few errands Junmyeon had for him. By the time evening came again, Yixing was back to work examining the body to see what clues might still be found. He hadn't given up hope that there might be something left to learn about the poison's source, though Kyungsoo thought it was pointless effort.

"Still," Yixing said, "if the king has called a meeting tomorrow, I have to have _something_ to tell him."

 

When the meeting came around, it didn't seem like anyone had much of anything to tell the king, however. Kyungsoo was not invited in to sit inside the council room, but from his spot outside he could pick out Junmyeon and Yixing's voices as they gave their reports. Neither one took very much time to relate. There was a somewhat longer period, during which there was a heated discussion, probably about what they should do next. Personally, Kyungsoo didn't think that there was much more they _could_ do, but it took the council until long past lunch time to come to that conclusion.

The doors opened, signaling the end to the meeting, and Kyungsoo was about to head off to find food for both Junmyeon and Yixing when a commotion inside stopped him. It was hard to see past the heads of all the people still crowded in the doorway, but Kyungsoo flattened himself up against the door itself, edging forward until he could see into the hall. King Siwon was coughing and gasping for breath while Yixing and Junmyeon hovered nearby anxiously, and even from where he was, Kyungsoo could clearly see the king’s white-knuckled hand clutching the back of a chair for support. When Siwon went over, it was like watching a tree topple, his crown rolling across the floor to rest in front of Junmyeon’s feet.

Kyungsoo’s view was blocked then by the surge of people all racing forward to help, but he could hear Yixing’s voice shouting over them all to keep back and clear a path so that they could carry the king out. They all pushed back out, so that Kyungsoo remained crushed up against the door, unable to move for fear of being swept out with the tide of people, and by the time he was able to look around again, almost everyone had gone. Junmyeon sat by himself in the empty council room, turning his father’s crown over and over in his hands. He cleared his throat when Kyungsoo came to join him, but his voice still sounded shaky.

“He never wants to rest, even when he’s deathly ill,” Junmyeon shook his head. “I know Yixing tried to tell him, but he never listens.”

“He’ll be all right.” Kyungsoo put a hand on his shoulder. “You should go see him. Take him back his crown, before someone steals it.”

Junmyeon laughed quietly. “It’s really heavy,” he said, sounding surprised. “I don’t know how he wears it all day.”

“Good thing you’ve got plenty of time to work on your neck muscles,” Kyungsoo said. “I’d go get a headstart on that, if I were you. You’re looking a little stringy there.”

“You’re one to talk,” Junmyeon swatted at him. “I’m going to make you carry more heavy things. That way if I keep you around I’ll never have to carry anything again.”

He stopped spinning the crown. Before he left the room, Junmyeon turned back over his shoulder.

“I think I want grouse tonight,” he said in his most pompous voice.

“You always want to grouse,” Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.

“Kyungsoo?”

“Yes?”

“Shut up.”

 

The next day, the king hadn’t gotten any better, and Kyungsoo barely saw Yixing at all, since he was constantly by the king’s side. Junmyeon was in and out of meetings, trying to do his father’s job as best he could, and even though Kyungsoo only saw him in brief snatches throughout the day, he could tell that it was starting to wear him down. Since he had plenty of time to think without Yixing and Junmyeon there to order him around, Kyungsoo thought long and hard about the situation. It seemed strange that the king had collapsed so soon after an attempt to poison Junmyeon, which made Kyungsoo suspect foul play of some sort, but there was no way he’d be able to tell if there was magic of any kind involved unless he could get in to see the king somehow. He couldn’t just walk in there because he was curious, but it struck him that this was a situation in which his rank might actually prove itself more useful than not. When it came close to lunch time, Kyungsoo intercepted the food being sent up to the king’s chambers. He knocked on the door, and the sight of the tray gained him admittance to the room, where he saw Yixing moving around the bed, his face drawn and serious.

“I don’t have time to eat,” Yixing told him. “I’m no closer to figuring out what this is than I was a day and a half ago, and if I don’t know what it is, I can’t treat it.”

Kyungsoo put the tray of food down on a side table. “Can I take a look?” he asked. “I was wondering if it could be anything like that poison we found before.”

“I wondered that too,” admitted Yixing, “but his symptoms are completely different. For one thing, there _are_ multiple symptoms. It looks and acts like a dozen other sicknesses, but doesn’t match up with any of them.”

“It could still be magic, though, couldn’t it?”

“I suppose it could, yes.” Yixing sighed. “I honestly wouldn’t be surprised at this point. I’m running out of other ideas.”

Kyungsoo moved to stand next to Yixing by the bed. Now that he was closer, he could see how pale the king was, and when Kyungsoo reached out to lay a hand on his forehead, his skin was like ice.

“That’s weird,” said Kyungsoo..

“That’s what I said,” Yixing frowned.

Siwon didn’t respond in the least to any touch, and his breath came in shallow rattles. He wasn’t coughing anymore, but everything about him seemed frozen and slow. Kyungsoo watched carefully as a faint mist appeared around his mouth with every exhale.

“Do you see that?” he asked.

“You see something else?” Yixing peered over at where Kyungsoo was pointing.

“It looks like when you can see your breath in the cold,” Kyungsoo said. “Like he’s lying outside in the winter, only he’s the only one who can feel it.”

“That would explain why his skin is cold to the touch,” Yixing said. “I can’t see anything like what you’re describing though.”

“It feels like magic,” Kyungsoo said. “I don’t know how, but some spell is making him sick.”

“If that’s true, we have to figure out how to break the spell before we can cure him.” Yixing rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. “We would have to start by either figuring out exactly what spell it is, or finding whoever is causing it.”

“I took a look through that spellbook the other day, and there’s way more in there than I think I could learn. It sounds like it’d be easier to find the person than the spell,” said Kyungsoo.

“You may be right.”

Kyungsoo stood staring down at the unconscious king while he thought without really seeing him. Behind him, he could hear Yixing picking through the food on the tray. He didn’t seem to be eating much.

“Worrying isn’t going to make him any better, you know.”

“What?”

Kyungsoo turned around. “You’re always worrying about other people, but this time just let me take care of it, all right? If it’s magic, you’ll need me to handle it anyway, so don’t worry so much.”

“I’m not sure how leaving it to you is supposed to make me worry _less_ ,” Yixing arched an eyebrow.

Kyungsoo made a face at him.

“If you’re going to find the person responsible, you’ll want to get Junmyeon to help you,” Yixing suggested.

“Why would I need his help?” Kyungsoo grumbled.

“This is no ordinary criminal, Kyungsoo,” said Yixing. “Whoever it is, this is a magician with more than a little power on his side. You’ll need all the help you can get, and Junmyeon is not a bad person to have with you in a pinch.”

“Well, that’s great,” Kyungsoo waved an arm. The entire idea of trying to explain his idea to Junmyeon seemed absurd. “I’ll just go up to him and say ‘hey, your father is deathly ill because someone thought it would be a good idea to cast a spell on him, but don’t worry, I’m going to use my own magic to fix everything.’ That will go over perfectly.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t say it just like that,” Yixing admitted. “But get him on your side, no matter what you have to say. You’ll thank me in the end.”

“We’ll see about that.” Kyungsoo said. “None of this is going to do any good if I can’t figure out where we need to start looking. It has to be coming from somewhere. It wouldn’t have been in anything he ate or drank, would it? I mean the last one was definitely meant to be drunk.”

“He hasn’t consumed anything out of the ordinary recently. Those cups were the only thing I didn’t know the exact origin of.” Yixing looked at Kyungsoo.

They ended up going through the spellbook together for anything that could trace the origin of a spell, but they were interrupted when Junmyeon came into the room to take the seat by Siwon’s bedside. Kyungsoo retreated into the corner to watch him and to do whatever he could to sense the incoming spell on his own. If Yixing had such a high opinion of his innate magical powers, there had to be some way to focus in on magical activity in the area, and if he could see spells where they manifested, Kyungsoo saw no reason to believe he wouldn’t be able to see other traces, if only he knew where to look. He watched the candles in the room burn down while he searched for anything that felt out of the ordinary or gave off any of the same vibes as the other magic he’d identified. Junmyeon didn’t say much the entire time. He stayed late into the night, until Yixing gently sent him packing, assuring him that he’d be the first to know if anything changed. Junmyeon left without even glancing at Kyungsoo.

“Anything?” Yixing asked quietly, as soon as Junmyeon had gone.

“I’m not entirely sure,” said Kyungsoo. Several times he thought he had seen the curtains rustle out of the corner of his eye, but when he’d turned to get a proper look they were still. It was always the same window, only ever when he was looking elsewhere, something that he could only catch faintly in his peripheral. “What’s in that direction?”

Yixing looked at the window. “The woodlands are over in that direction. They’re still too dense to settle in any real way, though more and more people are headed out that way, for want of space.”

“What’s past that, though?”

“Well, on the other side of the forests our lands stop. We don’t have many dealings with the kingdom over to that direction, and in recent years the messages between Siwon and their king have become fewer and far between. As far as I can tell, they want as little to do with us as possible.” Yixing looked at him curiously. “You think it’s coming from there?”

“I know there’s something there. It’s either in those forests, or it’s coming from further away. What’s so special about that place?”

“As far as I know, nothing,” Yixing said. Then he paused. “Though…” His face was carefully blank. “I have heard that they are far more accepting of magic there than Siwon is comfortable with. I would suspect that his attitude as far as magic is concerned has a great deal to do with why relations between the kingdoms are distant. I don’t see why they would want to do this, though.”

“Well, Camelot isn’t exactly known for being the most tolerant as far as magic is concerned,” Kyungsoo pointed out.

Yixing nodded thoughtfully. “True, but that’s hardly a reason to stage an attack against us. The last magical instance I can think of from that area was the _curing_ of a great plague. A number of years ago, a young magician cured the king and many of his subjects and I believe he was appointed the king’s main advisor as a reward.”

“Certainly sounds like a different place,” Kyungsoo said. “I can’t imagine actually getting rewarded for using magic here. Far more likely, you’d be thrown in prison for the rest of your life, chased out of town, or stoned by a mob. Must be nice.”

“The time will come when your talents will be recognized,” Yixing sighed. “Siwon may be hostile to magic, yes, and so far that is all Junmyeon has known. But he could be shown the good that magic is capable of, if only he has the right person to prove that to him.” He looked at Kyungsoo meaningfully. “If you can break whatever spell has done this, you will be well on your way to earning Junmyeon’s trust. Even if the spell did not originate from that kingdom, it might be worth your while to see if the king and his advisor can do anything to assist you in breaking it.”

He put down his fork and pushed away the plate. There was a mug of plain broth there for Siwon, which Yixing carried over and began to carefully feed him while Kyungsoo cleared away the dishes.

 

Since it was already late, Kyungsoo had to wait until the next morning to inform Junmyeon of their theory. He readily accepted the idea that the illness was caused by magic, but he seemed less inclined to go in search of a magical solution. Obviously Kyungsoo could not tell him that he had sensed the direction of the spell, and Junmyeon wanted nothing to do with the kingdom to the southeast, even if they had a court magician who was apparently skilled in magical cures, dismissing Kyungsoo’s arguments by sending him off to prepare his horse. It wasn’t until Junmyeon returned that Kyungsoo learned he’d given any thought at all to the suggestions.

“I rode out in that direction to see if anyone had any information,” Junmyeon said, tossing a jacket to Kyungsoo. “Several people said that they’d seen a large man with missing teeth, like the one we found with the travelers, but he was alone at that point. It certainly sounds like he came from the other side of the forest, but the path wouldn’t take me far enough to track down where he came from.”

“But it sounds like he’s from across the border then, doesn’t it? Shouldn’t we go looking to see what else we can find out?” Kyungsoo asked. Junmyeon rolled his eyes.

“It’s not that easy,” Junmyeon said. “I can’t exactly just get up and leave, now can I? That would be the height of irresponsibility.”

“What else do you have in mind then?” demanded Kyungsoo.

Junmyeon glared at him. “I don’t know! How should I know? I can’t walk off and abandon my duties here on some wild goose chase, and it’s not like your plan is any better. I’ll think of something else.”

Kyungsoo grit his teeth. He wasn’t going to be able to convince Junmyeon to take the magical route, and he couldn’t say what he wanted to say, which was that Junmyeon was being incredibly stupid, so instead he remained silent. When Junmyeon went to see the king again after he’d eaten, Kyungsoo came along. Once again, Junmyeon barely noticed the presence of anyone else, pushing past Yixing to sit and hold his father’s hand. Siwon was stirring slightly now, and Yixing explained that he’d been able to mitigate the symptoms somewhat.

“Knowing that it was magically induced went a long way towards helping me come up with a remedy,” said Yixing.

“But you still can’t completely cure it, can you?” Kyungsoo asked.

“No,” Yixing shook his head. “I can hold it off for a while—buy him more time—but sooner or later it will progress past a point where I can treat it. You’re going to have to find a way to stop it before then.”

“I don’t know what else I can do, unless I’m supposed to just give up and go over there on my own. Junmyeon didn’t take too kindly to the idea of asking for magical assistance,” said Kyungsoo.

They both looked over to the scene by the bedside. The king was just waking, and he had noticed Junmyeon there. He gestured for Junmyeon to come closer, clearly wanting to say something. Both Yixing and Kyungsoo hurried to help prop him up, which meant that Kyungsoo was close enough to hear the whispered words.

“Junmyeon?”

“Here,” Junmyeon said quickly. “I’m here.”

“Junmyeon, I know it’s asking a lot of you,” the king said. “Too much, too quickly… but you have studied your whole life to take my place when the time came.”

“And I’m going to keep studying,” Junmyeon said. “I’ve got plenty of time still. Yixing, tell him I’ve got plenty of time still.”

“I am doing my best to give you as much time as possible,” said Yixing diplomatically.

Junmyeon nodded enthusiastically. “See, you’ll be fine. It’s just a cold. You’ll be back before you know it.”

“I just want you to know,” Siwon continued, as if he hadn’t heard, which Kyungsoo thought was more than likely, “that no matter what happens, I believe in you. The people of Camelot believe in you. You will be a great king, far greater than I have been.”

“Now I know you’re delirious,” Junmyeon said. It sounded forced.

“Promise me this at least,” said Siwon. “Promise that you will find the one responsible for these attacks. I fear your life will not be safe either, if they are not found out."

"We're all doing our best. It's going to be difficult, but Yixing will get you back on your feet, and you can help us," Junmyeon said.

But the king would not rest until Junmyeon had promised, which he did reluctantly, as if the words were all that were needed to make his father succumb for good. As soon as he heard, Siwon lapsed back into unconsciousness.

Junmyeon stayed there for a long while, and when he finally stood up to leave, he looked directly at Kyungsoo for the first time that night. Kyungsoo followed him out of the room, nearly bumping into him when he stopped right outside in the hallway.

"What was your plan again?" Junmyeon asked.

"The plan to go see if the magician to the southwest can do anything?"

Junmyeon nodded. "Yes, that one. I'll do it. I'm leaving at dawn, so see that a horse is ready."

He walked away without waiting for a response. Kyungsoo watched him leave, and almost followed him, but remembered in time that he had a lot to prepare now if he was to accompany Junmyeon in the morning.

Yixing already knew that Kyungsoo planned to leave, so it was mostly a matter of making sure he had a bag packed of everything he might need, including the spellbook, carefully wrapped in cloth and buried under everything else so that it wouldn't be seen accidentally, no matter what Junmyeon ended up rummaging through his possessions to find. He did his best to anticipate anything Junmyeon was likely to forget, but in the end he had to give it up, instead lapsing into a broken and unrestful sleep.

 

Unfortunately for Kyungsoo's plans, Junmyeon outright refused to take him along the next morning. Kyungsoo had his own horse already saddled, and the two of them just stared at Junmyeon for a moment—Kyungsoo in offended disbelief, the horse in hopes of his usual sugar lump.

"You can't even be bothered to get water to wash your own face in the morning," Kyungsoo pointed out. "Have you ever even left Camelot without your posse of guards along with you?"

Junmyeon pointedly ignored that second comment. "Being at home in the palace involves certain comforts that do not exist elsewhere, I am very much aware. When I'm at home, I _don't have to_ fetch my own water, so I don't. I'm perfectly capable of surviving out on my own though."

Kyungsoo scoffed.

"I'll believe _that_ when I see it," he muttered.

“You’re not coming with me,” said Junmyeon from atop his own horse. He looked down at Kyungsoo sternly, then turned to ride away.

“Oh, I’m not coming with you, am I?” said Kyungsoo to his retreating back. Junmyeon didn’t appear to hear. “Sure thing. Of course I’m not coming with you, whatever his royal highness says.”

He rode out after Junmyeon and followed him about twenty feet behind. Junmyeon looked over his shoulder disapprovingly.

“I said I wasn’t taking you,” Junmyeon called back. “Go home.”

“I’m going on an herb-collecting trip,” said Kyungsoo. “Yixing needs more supplies. It’s not my fault we’re going in the same direction.”

“And how far is this herb-collecting trip going to take you?” said Junmyeon, highly suspicious.

“As far as I have to go to find a cure for the king,” Kyungsoo replied stubbornly.

Junmyeon pursed his lips and looked forward again, proceeding to ignore Kyungsoo’s presence for a whole hour, which, to be honest, suited Kyungsoo just fine. He was too busy trying to figure out how on earth they were going to convince anyone to help them to spare any attention for Junmyeon and his pride.

When they finally stopped for the night, the tall towers of Camelot were far out of sight behind them. Junmyeon did not invite Kyungsoo to join him near his campfire, probably expecting him to cave and ask to be allowed into the warm circle of light. If this was the case, he was due for some disappointment, because Kyungsoo simply settled down about a stone's throw away from Junmyeon's campsite and pulled out some of the bread he'd brought with him, freshly baked that morning. Neither of them spoke to each other, but Kyungsoo noticed when Junmyeon eventually fell asleep, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. Kyungsoo had not spent his time idly so he was able to place a small spell of protection over the area. Nothing elaborate, but it would give him a moment to react, should something happen. There was nothing dangerous that Kyungsoo could sense, but he had a job to do, and that was to keep Junmyeon alive no matter what. He tossed a few more branches onto the fire before drawing back to his own spot nestled between the roots of a tree. Even from here, he could see Junmyeon turning uneasily on the rough ground. Kyungsoo sighed. He really was hopeless. He kept his eyes on the fire, watching it flicker long into the night, until sleep finally overtook him.

However late Kyungsoo had stayed awake, he was still up before Junmyeon had even opened his eyes. He was tempted to wake him, since he was eager to get moving again, but Junmyeon had specifically said that they were not traveling together. Instead, Kyungsoo busied himself packing away the several blankets he'd brought with him, which had proved necessary to make up for how far away from the fire he'd been. Then he fed both horses and made sure they were refreshed and ready to go the moment they were needed. By the time he was finishing up his own breakfast, Junmyeon had sat up and rubbed his eyes blearily.

"Kyungsoo," he called out, "where's the water?"

"I thought you said you didn't need me," Kyungsoo replied through a mouthful of bread. He chewed carefully and made a note to eat it fast before it went stale.

Junmyeon was still not awake enough to do more than flex his toes for a long while.

"I just thought you might make yourself useful," he said eventually.

"I've been more than useful already today," said Kyungsoo. "You were too asleep to notice, though."

"I could order you, you know," said Junmyeon. "I'm still the prince."

"You could," Kyungsoo agreed.

He stared calmly at Junmyeon, who appeared to be waging an internal battle between the convenience of having Kyungsoo there to do things for him and persisting in his self-dependence. It took him five whole minutes before he heaved himself up with a groan and went off to refill the water flasks he'd neglected the night before. Kyungsoo waited patiently for him to break camp all by himself, and then followed him onto the road again, the same as the day before.

Junmyeon woke up earlier the next morning, in time to catch Kyungsoo roasting one of the sausages he'd brought over the remaining embers. He argued that if Kyungsoo was going to use his fire, he had to share the food, so Kyungsoo took the two extra sausages he'd pulled out and stuck them on a spare skewer. Junmyeon didn't think to ask why he'd had them ready and waiting, and he didn't see the small smile Kyungsoo took care to hide. By the time they reached the thick forest that marked the end of the road proper, Kyungsoo was no longer lagging behind but was riding alongside Junmyeon.

"This is about as far as I got before," Junmyeon said. "The road doesn't go any further, or at least people don't take it any further."

"There's a path though," Kyungsoo nodded towards a break in the undergrowth. "Someone must come this way."

"Probably no one we want to run into," said Junmyeon darkly. He spurred his horse forward on the path.

Kyungsoo knew that at some point before they reached the other side they would have crossed out of their own territory, but he wasn't sure exactly where the border lay. Certainly he didn't expect to be able to tell from the forest itself, and yet there was something different about this place than any he could remember. With a start, he realized that it was magic. There was something very subtly magic about this place, a sort of low-level energy that he could feel all around them. He looked over at Junmyeon to see if he had noticed anything, but Junmyeon merely looked alert to the unfamiliar area. It appeared that Yixing's idea that Kyungsoo's sense for magic was in some way related to his own powers had some merit to it. Kyungsoo wondered if it was the same for other people like him, if they could somehow feel the presence of magic the way he could. It was strange to think that they were on their way to seek out a powerful magician who might be able to sense their approach simply from the aura Kyungsoo gave off. He couldn't feel his own powers at all, and was inclined to think that they were nothing particularly impressive, but Yixing never lost an opportunity to assure him that he was "a warlock unlike any other," to quote the book currently buried beneath three blankets. If this was true, maybe they would find someone already waiting for them at the end of their journey, who already knew what they searched for, and who could help them. It was an encouraging thought, and Kyungsoo sat a little straighter with it in mind.

 

It was hard to tell exactly what time of day it was under that vast canopy of leaves, but it was some time after they stopped for lunch that the path widened out and grew more regular, as if it saw more traffic. Kyungsoo wondered if they might have already crossed over the border, into a country where the mention of a magical forest didn't cause people to shun the area. A little way ahead, they spotted a cart that had slipped sideways off the road. Two of its wheels were wedged down into the ditch, and a gray haired woman stood by the head of the mule, speaking soothingly to it in words Kyungsoo could almost, but not quite, understand. It looked like Junmyeon planned to give her a wide berth, which annoyed Kyungsoo for some reason.

"We should help her," he said.

“What is she saying?” Junmyeon said back, just under his breath.

He frowned at the cart, and Kyungsoo was irritated to realize that Junmyeon was reluctant to offer help to someone he thought might be using magic. Kyungsoo instantly stopped his horse and got down.

“Where are you going?” asked Junmyeon, glancing quickly back and forth between Kyungsoo and the woman.

“You don’t have to help if you don’t want to,” said Kyungsoo, “but I’m not going to ride past and ignore someone who needs help.”

Junmyeon looked torn, clearly not wanting to obviously refuse to help, but at the same time wanting to keep as much distance as possible between himself and the strange woman. He settled for leaning over in his saddle to grab the reins of Kyungsoo’s horse and leading it to the side of the path, where he sat watching. Kyungsoo braced his shoulder against the wooden planks, then pushed as hard as he could in the hopes of jostling the cart free. The woman stopped murmuring to the donkey, still stroking its forehead as she peered owlishly over its shoulder at Kyungsoo.

“It’s no use,” she said. “It’s not going to move. I thank you for trying, but I’m afraid I’ll be leaving all this behind me for the woods to keep."

She started to unload several bags onto the road. Kyungsoo knew she couldn't carry everything, and seeing the amount she would have to abandon made him struggle all the harder to move the wagon. No matter how hard he tried or how much he strained, it wouldn't budge an inch. Kyungsoo closed his eyes. He didn't know any specific spell for moving vehicles out of ditches, but he concentrated as hard as he could on simply shifting the thing forward, feeling his eyes flash suddenly behind his eyelids as the cart jumped and rattled back up onto the road. When he opened his eyes again, Junmyeon was looking impressed and the old woman was regarding him thoughtfully. Kyungsoo prayed to any deity that might be listening that she wouldn't say anything. His suspicion that his own power might be detectable now made it clear that the further they went into a land where magic could be used freely, the more likely it was that someone would notice him, and he was anxious to keep anyone from revealing him to Junmyeon. If the woman had noticed anything, however, she did not mention it but instead thanked Kyungsoo.

"I expect the two of you will be on your way to the great tournament," she nodded. "Strong young warriors such as yourselves will be after that prize, I'm sure."

"What tournament?" said Junmyeon, addressing the woman for the first time.

She ignored him, and Kyungsoo could hear Junmyeon grumbling in annoyance in the background. It would normally make Kyungsoo laugh to see Junmyeon's princely airs so thoroughly deflated, but he too was curious about the woman's words.

"Which tournament do you mean, exactly?" he asked.

"The royal tournament, of course," she said. "King Minseok has invited all the finest warriors in the land to compete in the largest contest this country has ever seen. It is the first festival he has held since becoming king, you know, and we all hope this is the beginning of a new era of happiness for the kingdom, especially considering how long the palace has been in mourning. I don't think anyone expected to see him take the throne so soon, but..."

She went on, but Kyungsoo was distracted by Junmyeon whispering in his ear.

"What prize was she talking about?" he asked. "Find out what the prize is, and if it's worth our time."

Kyungsoo made a shushing noise. "I'm sorry," he said to the woman, "but what was the prize again?"

"Oh? The prize?" She frowned slightly. "A favor, of course. It's all anyone can talk about. An opportunity to ask the king for whatever favor you wish... who wouldn't compete for such a prize?"

Kyungsoo and Junmyeon looked at each other, excited.

"Thank you very much," said Kyungsoo, bowing to her. "You're right, that's exactly where we're headed."

"Oh, I should be the one thanking you, young man," she patted his cheek with a warm smile. "Without your help, I would be stuck there still. Good luck in your journey, and may you be rewarded richly for coming to the rescue of an old woman."

She set about harnessing the mule to the cart again, while Kyungsoo and Junmyeon rode on ahead down the road. She never even glanced at Junmyeon the entire time, and Kyungsoo could tell that this bothered him.

“She never said thank you to _me_ ,” said Junmyeon suddenly.

Kyungsoo looked sideways at him. “Well, you didn’t actually _do_ anything,” he pointed out.

“I held the horses,” Junmyeon pouted. “I did something.”

“Thank you,” Kyungsoo leaned over and patted Junmyeon’s hand where they rested on the reins.

Junmyeon grumbled, but appeared at least partially mollified.

“It was still dangerous,” he said. “This is a strange place; you can’t just go talking to everyone you meet.”

“You mean there’s magic around here,” said Kyungsoo. “That doesn’t necessarily mean everything is dangerous, does it? You have to have read fairy tales, right? You always help the old woman you meet in the woods. If you ignore the weird old woman then bad stuff happens. And if I hadn’t helped her, we would never have heard about this tournament, would we?”

“It does sound like a better plan than just walking up to the castle gates and hoping they agree to help us,” Junmyeon admitted. “If I win, the king will at least have to seriously consider my request. And maybe there’s some other cure they know about.”

Kyungsoo was fairly sure that curing King Siwon would require magical intervention, but he decided not to say anything. There would be plenty of time to convince Junmyeon of that when the time came.

 

They had been traveling through the forest for just over a day when they came to a place that was warmer than the surrounding areas. It was just verging into autumn in the rest of the world, the leaves turning brittle and the nights coming with a hint of chill that made Kyungsoo glad to stay near the fire Junmyeon always made, but now they came across trees with buds still on the branches, and Kyungsoo found that his jacket was just a little bit too warm. It was very subtle at first, but by the time they came to a fork in the road Junmyeon was looking at his chainmail forlornly and casting envious glances at Kyungsoo’s cotton shirt. Off to the right, the road continued broad and clear with the trees lined up in orderly ranks on each side. Kyungsoo thought he could see the leaves looking less lush far in the distance, and a cooler breeze blew in that direction. On the other hand, the other path was slightly overgrown by new sprouting trees and thick ivy spilled over the road’s edges. Kyungsoo could hear birdsong winging from tree to tree. It was the most obviously magical sight they had encountered on their entire journey thus far, which is why Kyungsoo was so surprised to see Junmyeon turn in that direction.

“The city’s more likely to be that way,” he pointed to the wide road to the right.

“I know,” Junmyeon said, “but I’d like to see what’s down this way first. We can turn around in a little while.”

Not only the air, but the light itself seemed warmer along this path, as if the very way it slanted between the leaves was somehow more gentle and loving than elsewhere in the wood. The further they went, the more magic Kyungsoo could feel all around them, but it was not suffocating or uncomfortable, the way the magical attacks he’d encountered in Camelot had been. There was a cocoon around them as they traveled, muffling all sounds in the distance and covering Kyungsoo like a blanket. Every inch of him tingled pleasantly. He would have thought that Junmyeon would be suspicious of the place’s effect, but yet when he looked over at the prince he seemed content and was looking with delight at the woods around them. The path curved off to the left, deeper into the forest and away from the main road, but they still followed it. They kept on for what was probably several hours, but time felt strange here too, so Kyungsoo couldn’t be quite sure. All he knew was that by the time they finally reached the end of the path, the sun shone with a golden light, slanting sideways between the tall tree trunks.

The path came to a halt in a small clearing. The hush over the entire place made Kyungsoo look around, but Junmyeon dismounted and pushed past him curiously. The forest floor sloped down gently on all sides and In the center of the clearing a large sunbeam fell directly on a tall ivy-covered spire, which was the only thing Junmyeon seemed to have eyes for. As he cleared away the leaves and vines, Kyungsoo could see the bright gleam of metal underneath, a clear polished silver with no trace of grime or rust. What Junmyeon uncovered there proved to be a wide stone with an anvil growing up out of it like a tree, the iron melting away at the bottom like roots reaching deep into the stone. The metal and rock were fused together seamlessly in such a way that no human hand could have done it. If Kyungsoo expected Junmyeon to recoil at the strangeness of the thing, he was wrong. Junmyeon barely even seemed to notice the strange fusion, because his eyes were fixed on the sword embedded in the anvil. It looked like someone had driven it halfway into the iron in a fit of anger, cleaving the anvil as if it were butter, and simply left it there. Kyungsoo left his horse near Junmyeon’s, where they began to nibble the grass calmly, and came to look more closely at the strange monument. Now that the ivy was cleared away, he could make out writing along the stone, worn but still legible.

“Whosoever pulleth out this sword from this stone and anvil,” read Kyungsoo, “is rightwise king, born of all the land.”

Junmyeon paused with his hand on the hilt. “What did you say?”

“It’s written here,” Kyungsoo pointed. “I think it means that only the rightful king can draw the sword.”

Junmyeon tugged at it.

“It feels pretty solid to me,” he said.

“Well, you’re not king yet, are you?” said Kyungsoo. “It doesn’t say ‘prince,’ it says ‘king.’ I don’t think it takes potential into account.”

“Maybe,” Junmyeon mused. He braced a foot against the anvil and pulled as hard as he could. “Either way, it’s not moving.” He stood up straight, but his hand lingered on the golden hilt. He appeared reluctant to let it go. “I guess there’s only one way to find out, though.”

“What’s that?”

Junmyeon hopped off the edge of the stone, back down to the ground, before heading back towards the horses.

“Come back when I’m king, of course.”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and followed him.

By the time they made camp again that night, fireflies were flickering in the bushes on either side of the path. Or rather, Junmyeon thought they were fireflies and so did Kyungsoo, at least at first. Then he began to notice that they moved with rather more purpose than any fireflies he had ever seen, so he began to watch them more closely. A group of them were playing something like tag, weaving in and out of grass stems, and whenever they stood still, even for just a moment, Kyungsoo could see tiny hands brushing aside the gently waving stalks and laughing faces that ducked under leaves. They never sat still for more than a moment, but Kyungsoo could still recognize fairies when he saw them. Junmyeon didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, which was perhaps good. No matter how he had been drawn to the sword, Kyungsoo still doubted that he would be entirely comfortable with something as alive and obviously magic as the tiny figures that now filled the air. They all seemed to keep their distance from Junmyeon as well, but they brushed past Kyungsoo as if he were part of the landscape. They hid in the folds of his jacket where it lay in front of him across the saddle, and they landed on his shoulder for a second before darting away again, but they never so much as touched Junmyeon. Kyungsoo wondered which of them it said more about.

When it was time to build the fire for the night, Kyungsoo volunteered to go replenish their wood supply. There had been a slight debate as to whether they even needed a fire, but even with the seemingly protective aura that covered the area, they both agreed that they would feel safer to have it. Normally Junmyeon would send him anyway, but this time Kyungsoo was actually eager to leave the campsite, since he could tell that the creatures would stay away as long as there was any chance of Junmyeon actually seeing them for what they really were. As soon as he was out of eyesight though, they clustered around him. They landed on his arms and on his shoulders and on the top of his head, all curiously examining him, probably drawn to whatever magical energy he was giving off that reminded them so much of their homeland. Kyungsoo didn’t think they could talk, or else they would be talking to him right now, but maybe they could still understand him.

“Um, hi,” he waved a hand gently so as not to dislodge the three fairies currently clinging to it, unsure exactly what else he could say to them. It seemed to be enough, though, because they all fluttered excitedly, looking like they were being blown by the wind even though the air was still. "I'm Kyungsoo," he ventured.

They fluttered again in answer. Kyungsoo carefully sat down to watch them as they landed on every available surface. He watched them scamper across his knees as they resumed their game of tag, he blinked as they darted past his face in a flash, he felt them rustle through his hair, hiding in it like in the tall grass. Even though the sun had very nearly set, the light from the gathered fairies was more than enough to see by. The circle of light was brightest right around Kyungsoo, but when he looked up he could see them twinkling in the trees as well, their flickering lights turning the leaves into a canopy of stars. He was so engrossed in watching them that the voice behind him made him jump.

"Kyungsoo, what are you doing?"

The fairies all scattered as Kyungsoo scrambled to his feet, disappearing up into the leaves the moment Junmyeon came into sight.

"I'm..." Kyungsoo searched for an answer. Junmyeon stood with his arms crossed. "I'm catching fireflies?" He held up a hand with one lone fairy still clinging to it, which flew away a moment later.

Junmyeon threw up his hands with a huge sigh. "Of course you were," he said. "They probably saw the size of your eyes and thought you were one of them."

_Maybe I_ am _one of them,_ thought Kyungsoo, but Junmyeon was still talking.

"I don't know why I expected you to be getting firewood when I sent you to get firewood. Completely unrealistic, I know."

"It'll just take me a moment more," Kyungsoo assured him.

Junmyeon rolled his eyes. "I should make you be the one to light the fire in the dark," he said, turning back towards the camp. "Try not to pick up any poisonous snakes or anything while you're groping around for sticks; we don't have time for it."

Kyungsoo waited for him to leave before picking up as many branches as he could by the light of the returning fairies. Now that Junmyeon was gone, they landed on every dry piece of wood in sight, acting like beacons for Kyungsoo. When he had all he could carry, he thanked them, smiling at their answering flutter, and followed the path back to Junmyeon.

Later, after Junmyeon had fallen asleep, Kyungsoo saw the trees above them start to twinkle and come alive with the hidden fairies again. They crept down out of the branches to sit on the two bedrolls, and though most of them still gravitated towards Kyungsoo, more than one of them inched cautiously over to Junmyeon. They peered curiously at his face and one tentatively touched his hand. It jumped back when he stirred, but came back right away as it became clear he was in no danger of waking up. One by one, the fairies came to look at Junmyeon until they were clustered as thick around him as they were around Kyungsoo. They lit up Junmyeon's face with a soft glow and for one moment it looked like they formed a sparkling crown over his head, then the brief image faded. Kyungsoo could feel the question still hanging in the air though, the familiar feeling of a meaning half understood, even if the words themselves eluded him.

"He's not king yet," he said. "Someday he will be."

He watched a ripple of movement go through them at his words. Another question bubbled at the edges of his mind. Kyungsoo sighed.

"I don't know if he'll be the kind of king you need," he whispered. "I don't know if he'll be the one who lets you come back." He felt tears prickling behind his eyes. "I don't know. But I promise you, I'll try to make him see. I'll do everything I can to show him."

The fairies stayed all through the night, and the last thing Kyungsoo saw before he fell asleep was the night sky mirrored in feylight above them and the echoed stars playing in Junmyeon's hair.

 

The next day they were gone and the air was cooler, as if they had taken some of the warmth with them. Kyungsoo and Junmyeon made it back to the main path and continued their journey without being sidetracked any further. The aura that Kyungsoo had sensed from the moment they entered the forest was still there, but never again as strong as it had been around the sword in the fairies’ territory. They encountered nothing else strange or magical before they reached the forest’s edge and came out on a small ridge, from which they could see another large hill and the high parapets of a city.

People were going in and out in a steady stream, which the two of them joined as the road got closer and closer to the city gates. The entire place had the air of a festival, just as the old woman in the forest had suggested, and the instant they passed through the gates they were surrounded by a whirlwind of sound and color. Everywhere they looked there were blue and silver banners flying and people dressed in eye-grabbing hues brighter than any Kyungsoo had ever seen. There were shops standing in front of shops, each competing to be louder than the one next to it, carts loaded with goods standing far out into the road so that traffic had to split and weave around them. Music drifted out of side streets and the smell of food was everywhere. Junmyeon looked like he was overwhelmed by the sudden explosion of people, but right away the only thing Kyungsoo could notice was that everywhere he looked was something magical. Instruments played themselves, shops were lit with multicolored light, enchanted breezes wafted the smell of cooking fires past the stream of travelers in the hopes of attracting their appetite. Kyungsoo was enthralled. He thought he would almost be content just to sit here on the street and drink in the energy he could feel thrumming in the air around him, but then he happened to glance over at his companion. Now that the initial shock had worn off and he'd had a chance to get a good look at the city around him, Junmyeon was looking askance at every spell and every obvious display of magic. Kyungsoo's heart sank. His promise to the fairies seemed like an impossible task when the sight of magic made Junmyeon recoil like that, but he knew he had to do everything in his power to prove that magic was not the evil Junmyeon had been brought up to believe it was.

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

Junmyeon blinked at him. "I suppose so," he said. "We'll have to find lodging before we can unpack anything out of the bags, though, so you'll have to wait a while."

"No need," Kyungsoo shrugged. He slid off his horse to get closer to one of the shops. "Plenty of food right here."

"Wait!" Junmyeon grabbed his wrist, but Kyungsoo shook him off.

"I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere."

"Kyungsoo, get back here!" Junmyeon hissed, looking at the stall. "That's magic!"

"It's delicious is what it is," said Kyungsoo, coming back with several skewers of a strangely spiced meat that made his mouth water. "Want one?"

"No, thank you," said Junmyeon stiffly.

Kyungsoo shrugged and kept eating. He remained walking by the horses' side so that he could get a better look at everything, but the glances Junmyeon kept sending the food did not escape him, nor did Junmyeon's stomach rumbling ominously. Kyungsoo made sure to eat every bite as obviously as possible. They learned from people they encountered that the palace gates would open the next morning and housing would be provided for registered contestants, but that still meant that they were on their own for one night. Kyungsoo rather suspected that Junmyeon would like to camp outside the city walls, and it took a great deal of convincing to get Junmyeon not to head back towards the gates. He seemed inclined to eat the stale bread left over from their journey until Kyungsoo gave in and found them dinner from one of the few stalls around that showed no traces of magic.

Junmyeon watched as Kyungsoo wandered from place to place, standing off to the side while Kyungsoo examined every available display of magic he could find. After a long while in which nothing jumped out at Kyungsoo or attacked him or poisoned him in any way, Junmyeon seemed to relax somewhat, even coming close enough to peer at some things.

"I keep forgetting you're from all the way out in the countryside," Junmyeon said.

"Why, because I'm so sophisticated?" said Kyungsoo, looking at him through a perfectly round sphere of colored glass.

"No," said Junmyeon, "because you're more comfortable with... all of this."

Kyungsoo put the glass down and frowned. "Why shouldn't I be?"

"Magic is dangerous," Junmyeon frowned back. He kept his voice down. "I can imagine it's easy to wish for problems to magically solve themselves, but that's how it starts."

"Dangerous, sure," Kyungsoo looked skeptically at a group of children hopping up and down to reach a balloon enchanted to bounce in the air above them. "What about this looks dangerous?"

"In case you've forgotten," said Junmyeon, "someone tried to poison me using magic just the other day."

"All right," Kyungsoo admitted, "magic can be used for evil. But so can any weapon. You could take that sword right there and kill any one of these people and that would be evil, wouldn't it? But you can also use it for good, the way you're planning to use it to win this tournament and save your father. Who's to say magic is any different? Take a look around... everyone here seems to be doing just fine with it."

For a moment it looked like Junmyeon was swayed somewhat by Kyungsoo's words, then he shook his head.

"I've heard about what it was like before my father got rid of magic in Camelot," he said. "I can't just forget about that."

"I'm not saying you have to," said Kyungsoo. "Just look at how magic is being used here before you write it off for good."

Junmyeon sighed. He looked at Kyungsoo.

"Don't get too used to talking like that," he said. "It's a good thing I'm the one here to hear you; say this kind of thing around anyone at home and you'll get yourself accused of being a sorcerer."

"What's stopping _you_ from thinking that way?" Kyungsoo asked.

Junmyeon laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. "Come on, Kyungsoo, I know you too well now. There's no way anyone as hopeless as you is going to turn out to be a sorcerer."

He kept walking down the street, grinning to himself. Kyungsoo rubbed his shoulder to check for bruises.

"I'm so glad you have such a high opinion of me," he grumbled, but hurried to catch up anyway.

"Don't fuss," Junmyeon elbowed him. "Don't you want to try this... toad and salamander stew?"

"That's disgusting," Kyungsoo wrinkled his nose. "Why are you only looking at food?"

"I can hardly load the bags up with enchanted trinkets to carry home, can I?" Junmyeon pointed out, but he still made his way out of the cluster of food stalls.

No matter how he protested, Junmyeon seemed more at ease after hearing Kyungsoo's arguments. He listened to what one of the swordsmiths had to say on the merits of a magically controlled fire and the superior steel it produced, and even tried several of the swords before thanking the smith and moving on. A relaxed Junmyeon was more pleasant to be around, Kyungsoo thought. He smiled more, and not the official court smile that he wore when facing his father's advisors, the one that didn't quite reach his eyes and which had started to look almost frayed at the edges before they had left Camelot. He was smiling now the way he had when he had laughed at Kyungsoo for getting ash on the ceiling, or, for that matter, whenever he poked fun at Kyungsoo. It made his face scrunch up in ways that Junmyeon usually tried to hide, except that sometimes his amusement was too distracting for him to think about his appearance. He laughed like that around Kyungsoo because Kyungsoo's opinion didn't matter, but now Kyungsoo didn't mind that so much. He had infuriated Junmyeon by joking about his height when they first met, but watching him now Kyungsoo realized that he moved like royalty, like it was in his very nature. He didn't clear a path through the crowd with his size, the way any number of men around them were doing, and yet there was always a space in front of him. Junmyeon just seemed to _fit_ , and as Kyungsoo watched him move through the crowd he wondered how anyone who looked as embarrassing as that could command the respect that he apparently did. He pretended to be paying attention to the horses while he watched Junmyeon get into a conversation with an obviously interested silk merchant.

"If you're looking for something for a certain special woman, this color is _very_ popular," she said, holding up a roll of deep blue fabric.

"Ah, no. Nothing like that," Junmyeon laughed. "What color would you suggest for me, though? I will defer to your expert taste."

"For you?" she tittered. "For you I would choose this, the deepest scarlet I possess. Look at how rich the color is in the light. And, though I would say you hardly need it, this particular thread is woven through with an enchantment that will make the wearer irresistible to the opposite sex."

Junmyeon's hand, which was reaching out to touch the silk, froze in midair.

"Really?" he said, his voice just a little too careless. "I was wondering why I felt so compelled to venture over here. Would it be _very_ rude of me to accuse you of using your own wares to pull in poor, unsuspecting customers such as myself?"

"It would indeed. I would never do such a thing," she laughed, but something about the way her dress shimmered made Kyungsoo suspect that she was lying.

Junmyeon laughed along with her, but he withdrew his hand and took a step back.

"I'm afraid such fine silk is too much for my purse," he said with a bow. "It will have to wait for a more worthy owner."

He walked away quickly, reaching Kyungsoo just in time to see the smile on his face.

"Not a word," he muttered.

"Do you always flirt when you're nervous?" asked Kyungsoo innocently.

"I was not flirting!"

"I don't know what else you'd call that."

Junmyeon shoved him half-heartedly. "Shut up. Who said you could talk to me like that anyway?"

Kyungsoo stepped back behind him and made a deep bow.

"I apologize, your highness," he said soberly. "I spoke out of turn. May I carry anything for you? Fetch you anything? I await your command."

He followed Junmyeon silently and at a respectful distance for a few paces before Junmyeon stopped again.

"Cut that out," he told Kyungsoo. "It's disturbing. I liked it better when you were talking back."

"Whatever you say," Kyungsoo placidly agreed.

Junmyeon groaned and kept walking.

 

Walking through the markets apparently made Junmyeon hungry again, because he told Kyungsoo to keep his eyes open for the next non-magical street vendor. It took them a little while to find anything at all, and by the time they finally located anything edible, Junmyeon was hungry enough to accept a pastry kept warm over magical coals. He insisted on watching Kyungsoo take the first bite, but Kyungsoo thought it was more for show than anything else since he didn't wait more than a second before following suit. As they ate, Kyungsoo noticed a small commotion on the other side of the street. A crowd had gathered around what appeared to be a popular dairy farmer's cart, and around the edges of this crowd a girl was darting around. She was trying to get close enough to get the farmer's attention, but everywhere she went the people closed in, leaving her no opening. Kyungsoo nudged Junmyeon.

"What?" Junmyeon asked.

"Look over there," Kyungsoo said.

Junmyeon looked where he was pointing and huffed.

"Some people have no decency," he said. He crammed the rest of the pastry into his mouth and stood up, chewing furiously, then caught sight of Kyungsoo making a face at the flakes of crust clinging to his mouth. "What?"

"Nothing," Kyungsoo shook his head. "It's just nice to know that your cover is foolproof. No one looking right now would ever mistake you for the crown prince of Camelot."

Junmyeon rolled his eyes. "Are you coming?"

"What about the horses?" Kyungsoo glanced at the reins they'd slung over a wooden post while they ate.

"Bring 'em," came the reply.

By the time Kyungsoo made his way across the street Junmyeon had already intercepted the young woman, who was strangely refusing to look at him. She was instead trying to get around him, still heading back towards the crowd that had blocked her. Several of the people on the edges were glancing back at her almost anxiously, like they were trying to make sure she wasn't getting any closer without making it obvious that that was what they were doing.

"Don't worry," Junmyeon was saying. "We'll take care of it. Let me get that for you." He took the bucket gently from her and handed it to Kyungsoo. "Here."

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Kyungsoo asked.

"Go get her whatever she needs," said Junmyeon. He looked back at the young woman. "What do you need him to get for you?"

She still acted as though Junmyeon weren't there, but now for some reason Kyungsoo had caught her attention and she stood still, studying him intently. She was probably around the same age as Kyungsoo, but until that moment there had been a vague air to her that made her seem much older. Now something about her eyes made Kyungsoo feel more exposed than he had since entering the city, like she was seeing him more clearly than anyone else around them. She certainly seemed to focus on him more clearly than on anything else. Junmyeon might as well have not even existed, for all the attention she paid him.

"Cream," she said suddenly.

"Huh?"

"I need cream," she repeated. "And cheese if he has it, but only goat's."

"You heard her," nodded Junmyeon. "Off you go."

Kyungsoo frowned, but he hefted the bucket anyway and pushed his way into the crowd. They were slightly less reluctant to let him pass as they had been towards the young woman, but he still had to fend off elbows that threatened him on all sides, and ended up with at least one bruise before he managed to reach the front. The dairy farmer looked at him suspiciously, paying attention to his other customers for as long as he could before finally greeting Kyungsoo when he had no other choice. Whatever he found unsettling about the girl obviously extended to anyone who tried to help her, because he was noticeably less friendly towards Kyungsoo than he had been to everyone else, and Kyungsoo was glad to hear he was out of goat's cheese, if only because he was eager to put distance between himself and the looks he was getting from everyone around him.

When he finally returned with the cream he got no more than a glance since the young woman was wholly engrossed in examining each of her fingers in turn and whispering to herself. Junmyeon was more unsure than Kyungsoo ever remembered seeing him before, glancing up with relief at Kyungsoo's approach.

"Thank goodness, I thought you'd been eaten or something," he said. "She's been like this since you left."

"I got you the cream," Kyungsoo said, holding out the bucket.

No response.

"We can't just leave her here," Junmyeon said, "but I haven't got a clue where she came from."

They were looking around, completely at a loss, when another girl coming around the corner nearly ran into them.

"Soojung!" she exclaimed.

The mumbling young woman—Soojung, apparently—looked up at the sound of her voice.

"Oh, Jinri," she said, suddenly perfectly normal again. "I wondered where you went."

"I didn't go anywhere," said Jinri. "You're the one who wandered off. Thank you for staying with her," she said to Junmyeon and Kyungsoo, who had been watching the exchange with identical bemused expressions.

"My pleasure," said Junmyeon, recovering quickly.

"Here," said Kyungsoo. He held out the bucket to her instead. "This is yours, I guess."

"Oh, did you get that?" Jinri took it from him gratefully. "I might have known they wouldn't let her through. They never do, but she keeps trying anyway. Thank you so much." She glared at the wall of people around the dairy stall. "It's not the first time this has happened," she said, making sure they could hear her, "but they usually don't dare when I'm around."

She made as if to storm over, but Soojung stopped her.

"It's alright," she said, also speaking loudly enough to be heard over the crowd. "They'll be closed tomorrow anyway."

Kyungsoo caught a glimpse of the dairy farmer's face. He looked pale. Kyungsoo smiled and waved at him, and he looked away hastily. In the meantime, Jinri went back to scolding her friend for going off on her own.

"I had to welcome our guests," Soojung explained. "I should have expected them to get lost, seeing as how they're new to the city."

"Guests?" asked Kyungsoo. Junmyeon and Jinri both shrugged.

"I've been expecting you all day," Soojung said to Kyungsoo. "You're late."

"I think you must have mistaken us for someone else," said Kyungsoo. "We're-"

"I know who you are," interrupted Soojung, "and I know why you're here. Why do you think I told you about the tournament in the first place, except to bring you here?"

Kyungsoo could hear Junmyeon inhale sharply beside him, but he was too busy digesting what he had just heard to pay him any mind.

"You were the woman we met in the forest," he realized.

Soojung nodded. "Thank you again for helping with the cart, by the way."

Junmyeon grabbed his elbow.

"We should go," he whispered. "She's a sorceress."

"I'm a witch, actually," Soojung said loudly. Several of the people nearby shifted away at the sound of her voice.

"What's the difference?" Kyungsoo asked curiously, ignoring Junmyeon's insistence that they leave.

"Nothing much," Jinri answered for her with a sigh. "She just thinks 'sorceress' sounds too glamorous."

"It's what people call themselves when they're putting on airs," said Soojung firmly. "Like they're too good to be called a witch." She turned to Junmyeon, addressing him directly for the first time that evening. "Calm down," she said. "I have no quarrel with the Pendragon family, though there's many that do, and not entirely without reason. There are plenty of people who would be happy to see your father gone, but I am not one of them, rest assured. It is not time."

Junmyeon looked around, but no one seemed to have heard her this time.

"How do you know who I am?" he demanded.

"Typical royalty," she said, looking at Kyungsoo with sympathy. "They never really listen, do they? I've Seen you coming for a long time now, though you've strayed from the path several times."

Something about the way she said it made it possible to hear the capital letter on "Seen." Suddenly her vague appearance earlier made a little more sense to Kyungsoo. He didn't see anything particularly magical about Soojung, but he still wasn't sure exactly how that sense worked, so he supposed it was possible that he was looking for entirely the wrong thing.

"You said you were waiting for us?" he asked.

"Yes, I thought someone with your skill would have been a little quicker on the uptake, but at least you're here now."

Kyungsoo laughed nervously. "I don't know what you mean."

"I don't believe a word of it," Soojung said. "But the less said, the better, I suppose."

Kyungsoo shrugged helplessly at Junmyeon and Jinri, who were looking confused and entertained, respectively.

"This is the third time you have helped me," Soojung continued, "and now it is my turn to help you. I can start by making sure you have food and a place to stay, and then after dinner, we can see what else I can tell you."

Junmyeon immediately started to protest.

"No, that's fine," he said. "We actually have somewhere to stay already. We've already eaten too. We should be going."

"If you're planning to camp out again, you're on your own," Kyungsoo said, glad for the change in topic. "I vote for real beds."

"Who said you get a vote?" Junmyeon asked.

He seemed uninclined to go with them. Kyungsoo turned to face Junmyeon and lowered his voice so that the two girls couldn't hear.

"They want to help us," he said. "I know you don't like magic, but if Soojung were really dangerous, don't you think she'd have been, I don't know, turning those people into frogs or something when they got in her way?"

"I think you have a very strange idea of how magic works," said Junmyeon, but he sounded a little less certain.

"If you really can't stand the thought of it, we can leave and spend another night outside on the ground," said Kyungsoo. "If we look hard enough, I'm sure we can find a spot without too many rocks or ants or anything. Probably."

"Now you're overdoing it."

"I just think we should give them a chance. It's just one night."

Junmyeon's mouth twisted for a moment while he thought about it.

"Fine," he said finally. "But if anything happens, I'm blaming you."

"You usually do," Kyungsoo said dryly, but it still had the effect of making Junmyeon smile a little.

"Just one night, alright?" Junmyeon said.

"Just one night," Kyungsoo agreed.

 

Soojung and Jinri, it turned out, lived on the outskirts of the city, close by the outer wall, so it took them some time to get back there. Junmyeon was keeping his distance from Soojung, who had lapsed back into an unfocused silence. This seemed to have Jinri slightly worried, so Kyungsoo walked close by her to ask what was wrong.

“I’ve been with her a long time,” said Jinri. “We were friends when we were children, so it didn’t take me long to figure out that she could see things other people couldn’t. It made her a little strange sometimes, so people started to stay away from her. She’s perfectly sane, but sometimes she just _says_ things. She can have trouble remembering what is actually happening now and what only she can see, because they blur together for her. She looks at you like…”

“Like she can see right through you,” Kyungsoo said. “I know. Somehow she could tell who I was even though we’ve never met before.”

“It can frighten people,” said Jinri. “It’s not that she does anything, really. It’s just the way she looks and acts that makes people nervous. I stay with her because I know what a good person she is, and I know she would have no one if I weren’t here. You saw the way they treated her today.”

“So you look out for her?”

“Right. I make sure she has what she needs, even if everyone else wants to pretend she doesn’t exist. She’s my friend, so I don’t mind at all. I like being with her, and she’s so much fun most of the time. That’s why I’m worried about her tonight.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s... not usually so distant,” Jinri explained hesitantly. “She has moods or weird times where she can’t see anything around her. Usually it’s because she’s _Seeing_ something, you know? So it passes pretty quickly. But she’s been like this all evening, like she’s drifting in and out of reality. It’s just strange.”

“She said she saw us coming,” Kyungsoo said. “Could… well, could it have anything to do with that? Or-”

He bit back his words, but she finished the sentence for him.

“-or with you in particular? Maybe.”

“I don’t know why that would be, though,” Kyungsoo hurried to add.

“You don’t have to keep up the act,” she smiled. “Soojung said that a powerful magician would be arriving, one who would need our help, and I’m guessing she wasn’t talking about him.” She nodded towards Junmyeon. “That leaves you. It’s not hard to put two and two together.”

Kyungsoo sighed. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say anything. He still doesn’t know.”

“I didn’t figure he did,” said Jinri. “Something about the way he talked. He doesn’t approve of magic, does he?”

“No,” Kyungsoo said, “but I’m going to do everything I can to change that.”

“Good luck,” said Jinri. “Camelot has been magic-free for as long as I can remember. It will be a hard task to bring it back.”

“I have to try though, don’t I?”

“If I understand anything Soojung has told me,” said Jinri, “then yes.”

By the time they arrived at the house and settled in, Junmyeon was ready to get as much information as possible about the tournament. The rules didn’t mean much to Kyungsoo, since he knew nothing about it, but the way Junmyeon was nodding and making comments made it seem like it was nothing out of the usual. There was one thing that Jinri said, though, that made them both sit up and take notice.

“Each contestant has to bring a lady to fight for?” Kyungsoo asked. “Wait, why is this the first we’re hearing about this?”

“It’s a longstanding tradition here,” explained Jinri. “Most of the people competing are from the area and it was assumed that they would already know of it and be expecting it.”

“It’s a little old-fashioned, but not unheard of,” said Junmyeon. “Most places don’t bother with it these days, but it used to be common for each knight for fight for their lady’s honor and reputation. Wear her colors and whatnot. The fact that it’s still required here makes this more complicated, though.”

“That’s one word for it,” said Kyungsoo. “I would have gone with ‘brings everything to a screeching halt,’ but that’s just me.”

“Kyungsoo, if you don’t have any good ideas, just shut up,” Junmyeon glared. “I’m trying to figure this out.”

“Why can’t Soojung go with you?” Kyungsoo suggested. He was still slightly irritated that they were only just now finding out about a rule that could upset all their plans, and wished that she had told them far sooner.

“You saw how everyone in the market was staying away from her,” Junmyeon said, glancing over at Soojung where she sat calmly drinking her tea. “I don’t think bringing her into the palace would go over very well. What about you, Jinri?”

Jinri shook her head. “Both Soojung and I are too well-known,” she said. “We would be recognized almost immediately, and the rules definitely state that it has to be a noblewoman, which we definitely don’t count as.”

“What are we supposed to do, then?” Kyungsoo asked. “Go out into the street and ask every rich lady we see if she wants to help us enter the tournament?”

“The fewer people we let into the plan, the better,” Junmyeon said slowly. “I don’t want to risk people finding out who I am before I manage to win the prize.”

Soojung put down her cup and looked around the table.

“There is one more person in our company,” she said. “One who is unknown to the people of this city.”

Everyone turned to look at Kyungsoo. He blinked back at them.

“I think there’s a problem with this plan,” he said. “I’m not a woman.”

“No,” said Soojung, “but with the right clothing, you might be able to pass as one long enough to make it through the tournament.”

“Are you saying I look like a girl?” Kyungsoo demanded.

“It may be our only choice if we don’t want to bring in another outsider,” said Junmyeon, ignoring him. “If registration opens tomorrow morning, we don’t have a lot of time to look for other options.”

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Of course,” said Soojung. “You must decide how desperate you are to save your king’s life and make your choice based on that.”

Kyungsoo could feel Junmyeon looking at him, so he kept his gaze firmly fixed on Soojung, watching as the witch took another sip of her tea.

“This is all assuming I can fool people well enough to get us into the tournament in the first place,” he said.

“And keep it up for the next three days,” added Jinri. “The tournament begins the day after tomorrow and it goes on for two days. You’ll be staying in the palace for that entire time.”

“Such a simple illusion should prove no difficulty for someone of your skill, though,” shrugged Soojung.

Kyungsoo’s stomach lurched. He looked at Junmyeon in sudden panic, afraid he would instantly connect the dots and figure out what Soojung was implying. Junmyeon looked confused, but Jinri leapt to Kyungsoo’s rescue.

“I know a fantastic dressmaker,” she said. “I really think with the right clothing you would stand a pretty good chance of keeping up the illusion. We’d have to find something to keep your hair covered, of course, but she’s bound to have something that will work.”

Kyungsoo mentally thanked her for her quick thinking. Junmyeon nodded.

“That could work,” he said.

“He’d have to stay quiet, or his voice would give him away, of course,” admitted Jinri.

“I like this plan more and more.”

“Ha ha,” Kyungsoo deadpanned. “I ought to refuse.”

“What other choice do we have?” Junmyeon said, more serious now. “This is all or nothing now. If the plan doesn’t work, or if I don’t win… we won’t have time to look for another cure.”

Kyungsoo met his eyes for a moment, but had to quickly look away at the level of emotion he saw there. No matter how he felt about King Siwon personally, he had to remember that he was Junmyeon’s father and he had promised to help Junmyeon in any way he could. Soojung seemed to be able to tell what he was thinking, but she said nothing, waiting for him to come to the decision on his own. Kyungsoo slumped, defeated.

“I’ll do it,” he said. “I can’t promise I’ll be able to fool them, but I’ll do my best.”

“That’s all I can ask,” said Junmyeon. “I’ll do my best too. Thank you.”

He looked at Kyungsoo with more true gratitude than Kyungsoo had ever seen him express in his entire time in Camelot. There was nothing teasing about his look now, and something about that made Kyungsoo’s heart race, though he wasn’t sure exactly why.

“I’ll head out first thing tomorrow and find you something to wear,” said Jinri, breaking the silence that had fallen.

“We’ll need more than one,” said Junmyeon. “At least three, if we’re going to be in disguise for three days. It’ll be expensive, so here.” He dug through his bag and pulled out a small bag of coins. “I hope that should be enough.”

“More than enough, I should think,” she said.

“Get whatever you think is appropriate,” he told her. “I’ll trust your judgment.”

“If that’s settled,” said Soojung, “we should get some sleep. Tomorrow will be busy.”

 

The house was fairly large for two people, certainly richer than many of the other houses Kyungsoo had seen both here and at home, and it had an upper story where the bedrooms were located. Still, there was only had one empty room, with one empty bed, and apparently Junmyeon’s gratitude didn’t extend far enough to offer Kyungsoo that. Or, more likely, the thought of offering the bed to a servant and sleeping on the floor himself simply didn’t occur to him. Kyungsoo took both of their bedrolls and made a comfortable enough pile on the floor beside the mattress, but Junmyeon was still asleep far sooner than he was. Kyungsoo tossed and turned for a while before deciding to stretch his legs. He left the bedroom for a drink of water, but a light under one of the doors downstairs caught his eye. There were two rooms downstairs, but they had only been inside one of them. It was the second of these two rooms that Kyungsoo found himself approaching now, pushing the door open just a crack to see what was causing the strange light. It was a bluish white color and it didn’t flicker like a fire. Before Kyungsoo could get a good look, he heard Soojung’s voice call out from inside.

“Come in, warlock.”

He glanced behind him to make sure there was no one else around and then slipped inside.

“Don’t say that so loudly,” he frowned at her. “What if Junmyeon hears?”

“He will not,” she replied. “The prince is sound asleep and will not wake. You and I, however, have things to discuss.”

She was sitting at a table, on top of which there was a small chest that stood open. The light was coming from inside, and when Kyungsoo looked closer he could see a large crystal that took up the entire box. Soojung remained looking at its flat, upturned face as she spoke.

“You have questions for me, I suspect,” she said. “I will answer them as best I can.”

“First of all, what’s that?” he asked.

“This is a crystal that allows me to See more clearly,” she said. “It focuses my vision and acts as a magnifying glass in some ways. It comes from a cave hidden in your kingdom, which our magicians visited often when the borders were still open to us. It is too dangerous these days, but we have this part of it here with us still. It is not as powerful as the cave itself, where even those without the Sight have been said to See visions, but it suits me well enough.”

“So it lets you see into the future?”

“I can see many futures, but with this I can see those closest to us. Some futures are more likely than others.”

Kyungsoo looked around and spotted an empty chair, so he sat down next to her.

“What am I supposed to ask?”

“Whatever comes to mind,” she said.

Kyungsoo thought about this. “Do we win? The tournament, I mean. Does the plan work?”

He leaned close to her shoulder while she stared into the crystal’s glowing surface. He couldn’t see anything, but her eyes flickered back and forth, as if following movement.

“Neither of you alone will win,” said Soojung finally. “There will be tasks for both of you and obstacles for both of you to overcome—perhaps more for you than for him—but as long as you work towards the same purpose, you will be hard to defeat.”

“Are we in time to save the king?” Kyungsoo asked, remembering Junmyeon’s face earlier. He wanted to have something encouraging to tell him.

“There _is_ still time,” she said. “Whether you use that time well or not is up to you.”

“You know, for someone who can see the future, you’re not very helpful,” Kyungsoo grumbled.

Soojung smacked the back of his head. “Reading the future isn’t as simple as reading a book,” she scolded. “Events could unfold along any one of thousands of paths. I can narrow it down to a handful and predict the most likely outcomes, but every decision you make changes the path history will take.” She stopped and looked thoughtful for a moment. “Except for the ones that don’t,” she said. “The future is funny that way.”

“Well, so far the answer to all my questions has been a definite ‘maybe,’” Kyungsoo sighed. “I don’t see how this helps me though.”

“Hope is one of the greatest motivators,” said Soojung wisely. “I am telling you that there is hope for your quest, as long as both you and the prince work together.”

“I’ll be sure to put my sabotage plans on hold then,” Kyungsoo muttered, then yelped when she smacked his head again. “What was that for?”

“For trying to be smart,” she said. “There are other things you need to know. Other things that are coming. The dragons stir. They are not awake yet, but the time is coming when their war will shake the very foundations of the earth.”

Kyungsoo had been rubbing his head, but now he froze. Something about her words reminded him of something.

“I had a dream like that,” he said. “I dreamed that there were two dragons fighting in a cave, and then…” He looked up sharply. “There was a battle. Between Camelot and some other army; I couldn’t tell who it was. Junmyeon was fighting a knight in black armor and-” He took a shaky breath. “... and it looked like he was losing.”

Soojung nodded slowly to herself. “Sometimes the Sight can come in dreams,” she said. “I’m not surprised you have had hints of what is to come.”

“What is it, though?” Kyungsoo said, trying to speak around his heart, which had suddenly climbed into his throat. “What’s coming? A war?”

“I can’t tell for sure,” she said. “A war of some sort seems likely, though I don’t know if it will be in the way you expect. It may not be a war in the way you think of, though, then again, it might.”

Kyungsoo lay his head down on the table. Even when he closed his eyes, he could still see the white light from the crystal shining through his eyelids.

“What’s the point of telling me this, then?” he asked. “So I can be prepared? How am I supposed to prepare for this?”

“My purpose in telling you is the same I have had for everything I have shared with you tonight,” she told him. “Hope. I am telling you so that you will hope. Whatever conflict lies ahead for you and Prince Junmyeon, the outcome is still uncertain. This is a future you can change, I am certain of that.”

She laid a hand on his shoulder. Kyungsoo took a deep breath.

“Thanks.”

When he left the room, Soojung stayed behind to see what else she could find out. Kyungsoo closed the door behind him and nearly ran straight into Jinri when he turned around.

“Oh!” she said. “You startled me.”

“You startled _me_ ,” he countered. He looked at the two baskets she was holding and the cloak she wore. “What are those for? Are you going out? It’s really late, you know.”

“I know,” she sighed. “This one right here-” she shook one of the baskets “-is for that dairy farmer from earlier. Anything he eats in the next day or so will be coming right back out, one way or the other, and it won’t be pleasant. If he thinks he can ignore Soojung and turn her away, then he’s dead wrong. They’ll think twice before turning away a witch again.”

Kyungsoo looked at the other basket nervously.

“And what’s that one?” he asked.

“This one?” she looked at it. “Oh, this is for his cows and goats. It won’t make them sick or anything, but their milk will be some interesting colors for a while. No one’s going to buy green milk, so he can have fun losing those profits.”

She smiled and headed out the door. As Kyungsoo climbed the stairs back towards the bedroom and his nest of blankets by Junmyeon’s bedside, he made a mental note never to get on Jinri’s bad side.

 

The next morning dawned bright and early and so did Junmyeon, stepping on Kyungsoo when he stumbled out of bed and then claiming he'd done it on purpose to wake him up.

"It's too early," Kyungsoo complained.

"Get up." Junmyeon nudged him insistently with his toe. "Jinri's already up and out buying you clothes, so we you need to be ready as soon as she gets back."

"It doesn't take me that long to get ready," said Kyungsoo. He rolled back over. "Wake me up when she gets back."

Junmyeon kicked him again.

"Ow! What?"

"You need to polish my armor," said Junmyeon. "Have you seen the state of it?"

"Well, we did ride through the woods for a few days," Kyungsoo pointed out.

"It's in no shape to be seen," said Junmyeon. "There's a tournament on. We need to look respectable. Or rather, _I_ need to look respectable and you need to stay out of trouble long enough for me to win."

"You're sure you're going to win then?" Kyungsoo asked.

"Not like I've got a choice," Junmyeon said. "And neither do you. Get up!"

He kicked him one more time, to which Kyungsoo responded with a tired whine and a rude hand gesture as soon as Junmyeon's back was turned. Polishing the armor took a while, even with the subtle assistance of Kyungsoo's magic, and by the time he was finished, Jinri was waiting with no fewer than five dresses for him to try. He looked at one of them, a deep scarlet silk one, suspiciously.

"Where did you say you got these?" he asked.

"I didn't, but they come from a fabric merchant I know pretty well," said Jinri. "We help her, uh, prepare some of her material sometimes, so she gave me a discount."

"I see," sighed Kyungsoo.

At least one of the dresses had a familiar shimmer to it. He sighed again. It was probably just as well—he was going to need all the help he could get.

By the time he was bundled into one of the dresses and Jinri had helped him cover his head, Junmyeon had come downstairs in his newly-polished armor. His clothes bore neither the colors nor insignia of Camelot, and his shield was a plain gold field rather than the usual Pendragon symbol. Even in disguise, and without the massive cape, Kyungsoo had to admit he looked impressive. Junmyeon stopped at the bottom stair, looking Kyungsoo up and down in surprise.

"Well, I've got to say, Kyungsoo," he said finally, "A good tailor really does make all the difference. I never thought you would look like a civilized human being, let alone pass as a noblewoman, and yet here we are."

"I'm so glad I pass muster," Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.

Junmyeon winced slightly. "Yeah, just be sure to keep your mouth shut. I know that'll be hard for you, but I believe in you."

Kyungsoo glared. Soojung came in from the back room and smiled at him, apparently completely oblivious to the fact that he was currently trying to set fire to a very smug prince with the power of his mind. Not a lot of fire, he told his powers. Just enough to singe his eyebrows a little and wipe that satisfied look off his face. When it became clear that Junmyeon was going to remain unscathed, Kyungsoo gave up, instead fidgeting with the cloth currently wrapped around his head and neck. Jinri slapped his hands away before straightening it.

"Don't mess with it," she scolded him. "You need that to hide your hair or no one will believe for a moment that you're a girl."

"What is it anyway?" he asked. "It's really uncomfortable."

"It's a wimple," she said. "Not many people wear them these days, but they used to be quite popular. Kept you from having to brush your hair every day, at least."

Kyungsoo made a face, but Junmyeon nodded in understanding.

"They're not in fashion now," he said, "but no one should find it too strange. We'll just say your family is very... traditional."

They spent a long time trying to get Kyungsoo used to moving with long skirts of stiff brocade. It took him an hour to be able to cross the room without tripping, and then Soojung insisted that he learn an assortment of turns, twirls, bows, twists… the list went on and on. Junmyeon stood to the side to critique, which he seemed to take unholy glee in doing, pointing out every mistake Kyungsoo made. He claimed to be trying to improve his disguise, but secretly Kyungsoo just thought he liked to nettle Kyungsoo to make him snap. He just laughed when Kyungsoo blamed his lack of balance on the heavy woven fabric. When Kyungsoo asked why they couldn’t have picked a softer fabric, Jinri simply told him that he needed to look as rich as possible.

“This is what all the fashionable ladies are wearing,” she said. “Not all your dresses can be silk.”

“I don’t see why not,” Kyungsoo muttered. “It would be better than this.”

“Developing rather picky tastes, isn’t he?” Junmyeon asked Jinri. “Give him a taste of high society and he runs away with it.”

"Just win as fast as you can so I can get out of this, will you?" Kyungsoo implored, still trying to figure out how to walk with a train.

"I don't know," Junmyeon said. "Depends on how relaxing it turns out to be when you can't talk back all the time."

Jinri smothered a laugh and even Soojung smiled behind her hand. Kyungsoo felt betrayed.

“Let’s just get going,” he said. “We’ve wasted hours already. Don’t we have places to be?”

“After you, my lady,” Junmyeon bowed.

Kyungsoo swept out of the door in as dignified a manner as he could in the unfamiliar skirts. The effect was somewhat spoiled when he stepped on the hem and hand to clutch the door frame to keep from falling over. He staunchly refused the arm Junmyeon offered him, at the same time ignoring the choked laughter from Soojung and Jinri. He grudgingly let Junmyeon help him onto one of the horses, though, when it became quite clear he wasn’t going to be able to manage it on his own, then, after waving goodbye to the two girls with promises that they would return at the end of the tournament, they were off.

 

Since Kyungsoo was ignoring Junmyeon for most of the ride up to the castle, it took him a while to figure out why people were staring at them. At first he was afraid it was because his disguise wasn’t working, then he worried that maybe it was working too well and started examining the dress for any telltale shimmer of enchantment. Finally he looked over at Junmyeon and realized what everyone was looking at. The entire ride through the streets, Junmyeon had been wearing not only his full armor, but his helmet as well. The visor was pulled down over his face like a mask, and everyone was whispering and pointing at the strange figure he made.

“What are you doing?” Kyungsoo hissed. He was careful to pitch his voice up as high as he could, on the offchance someone could hear him. “No one else on the entire street is dressed up like that. Why are you acting like you’re headed off to war?”

“In a way, we are though, aren’t we?” said Junmyeon dramatically.

“No,” said Kyungsoo. “We are going to win first place in a playfight so that we can claim the prize and get out of here without anyone noticing us or figuring out who you are. Avoiding people’s notice is the _opposite_ of what you are doing right now.”

“Like you said, we don’t want anyone to recognize me,” Junmyeon reasoned. “If they can’t see my face, they can’t recognize it. It’s a standard tactic.”

“Used by _who_?” Kyungsoo said. “Fairytale knights?”

He couldn’t tell for sure, but Kyungsoo thought that Junmyeon’s helmet looked a little bit embarrassed.

“Which of us here has more experience with tournaments?” Junmyeon asked defensively. “I’ve been doing this all my life.”

“It’s not going to work,” Kyungsoo shook his head.

“Just trust me, will you?”

“Are you really going to wear that helmet constantly for the next three days?”

“If I have to, yes.”

“How are you going to eat?”

Junmyeon considered this.

“I’ll stay in my room,” he said. “Have food delivered. No one will have to see me outside the ring.”

“That’s crazy,” Kyungsoo told him. “You’re going to attract so much attention there’ll be no way to keep up this disguise.”

“Watch and be amazed.”

Kyungsoo looked up at the front of the line, where court officials were adding names to the roster, allowing each contestant into the castle as they registered. The line wasn’t overwhelming by any means, but it wasn’t short either, and it moved far slower than Kyungsoo would have liked. His dress, which had been heavy enough when he was walking back and forth across Soojung's floor, got more and more uncomfortable as the sun crossed the midway point and began its journey back down towards the western horizon. By the time they finally reached the front, Kyungsoo could feel sweat trickling down his back. The man there gave Junmyeon a strange look.

“Name?” he asked.

“Um,” said Junmyeon cleverly.

Kyungsoo closed his eyes in horror. They were going to be turned away before they ever had their names entered. The king would be left without a cure and Kyungsoo would have sweat through what felt like fifteen yards of upholstery for nothing. The man continued to stare expectantly at Junmyeon.

“I am Sir… Suho,” said Junmyeon finally.

“Right.” The man looked dubious, but he wrote the name down anyway. “Reigning lord?”

“I have none,” said Junmyeon proudly. “I fight for no kingdom.”

Kyungsoo’s hands itched to throttle him, so he balled him into the fabric of the skirt instead, struggling to keep his face neutral and pleasant.

“... Right,” said the man again. “I’ll need you to take off that helmet if you have no other credentials.”

Junmyeon sat even straighter on his horse. “I will not,” he said, “and I resent the slight to my honor. I give my word that I am a knight worthy of this tournament.”

“I don’t see your face, you don’t get through these gates,” said the man stubbornly. “If you’re planning to waste my time, you can leave right now. There’s plenty waiting behind you.”

Even though he was facing away and covered head to foot in metal, Kyungsoo could see that Junmyeon was about to turn into the complete picture of an affronted and thwarted prince. Hastily, he nudged his own horse closer so that he could lay a hand on Junmyeon’s arm.

“What?” Junmyeon turned suddenly.

“Just do it,” Kyungsoo whispered. The man turned to look at him now, so Kyungsoo smiled as shyly as he could manage and kicked his voice up what felt like five octaves. “I know you want to be dashing and mysterious, but I don’t mind really. We’ve come all this way, and I know this tournament means a lot to you. You’d think I was embarrassed to be seen with you,” he ended by laughing as giddily as he could, which was hard considering how much he wanted to kick Junmyeon in the leg right now. But that was something a servant couldn’t do, much less a respectable lady, so he hid his face behind his sleeve instead.

"Your lady’s got more sense than you, seems like,” the man smiled back at Kyungsoo, clearly won over by the shy act. “Tell you what, just take off the helmet and I won’t bother you for other credentials. Just gotta make sure you’re not on our list of wanted criminals, eh, my lady?”

Kyungsoo laughed quietly at the joke, since it seemed to be expected, but then he sighed with relief when Junmyeon took the helmet off. Even though it was cool out, his hair was sweaty from being under the sun-heated metal so it stood up all over the place. For a moment Kyungsoo resisted the urge to reach over and smooth it down, before realizing that it might add to the feminine appearance he was supposed to be showing. Junmyeon looked over in surprise when he felt Kyungsoo’s fingers in his hair and Kyungsoo indulged in what felt like a very ladylike blush. The entire situation was so ridiculous.

“You'll want to listen to her," said the man, who was still smiling. "Ignore a woman's good advice at your own peril. And may I ask your name, my lady? Got to add you to the register as well."

Now that his full attention was on Kyungsoo, rather than Junmyeon, Kyungsoo's heart began to pound. He knew that his disguise was doing fairly well so far, but if anything was going to give him away it would be his voice, so rather than answer he hid his face as best he could, shaking his head silently. Junmyeon glanced over at him before cutting in smoothly.

"Oh, I apologize," he said. "This is... Lady Do. She's a bit shy. First time in such a crowded city, you know. All the strangers everywhere are a little overwhelming. She wouldn't have come at all if I hadn't begged her to accompany me."

_Begged me to come along, huh?_ thought Kyungsoo. He tried to exude timidness, at the same time glad he had already covered his face because he was having a hard time not giving Junmyeon the stink eye. His chest thudded with anticipation as he waited for the man's reply.

"I understand," the man said. He sounded sympathetic. "Gave my wife quite a turn when we first came here, but you soon get used to it. Are you two...?"

"Married?" Junmyeon startled. "No, no. She's... Lady Do is my..." Kyungsoo could see him groping for an answer that wouldn't arouse suspicion. "Betrothed."

Kyungsoo didn't see how that was much better than married, and tried to convey such sentiments in the look he gave. Junmyeon ignored him, instead reaching out to hold his hand affectionately. Kyungsoo tried to pinch his fingers surreptitiously.

“Isn’t that nice,” the man beamed at them. He jotted down a few final notes on his parchment before nodding at them. “That should take care of you both, then.” He took one of the pages and handed it to Junmyeon. “Just give this to one of the servants in there and they will show you to your quarters. Good luck in the tournament.”

As they rode away, Kyungsoo jerked his hand out of Junmyeon’s.

“What was that all about?” he asked.

“What was what about?”

“Since when are we betrothed?” The last word stuck in Kyungsoo’s throat, his tongue tripping over the concept.

Junmyeon shrugged. “It seemed like a good idea,” he said. “It explains why we’re so close and it makes it easier for me to speak for you, since your voice would blow the whole plan.”

“You could have just said we were married,” Kyungsoo pointed out. “You wouldn’t have even had to suggest it, since he brought it up in the first place."

"Why would I want to marry you, Kyungsoo? Don't be ridiculous," Junmyeon said. "You're my servant, that would be weird."

He rode up ahead to where a stable hand was waiting to take their horses, leaving Kyungsoo to follow behind him. Kyungsoo shook his head in exasperation. He managed to ignore Junmyeon even as Junmyeon helped him off his horse, while Junmyeon located one of the palace workers, and for the entire trips to their rooms, at which point he stopped dead. Rooms. _Plural._ And a fair distance away from each other too, Junmyeon's being right at the head of the stairs while Kyungsoo's was all the way down the hall and around a corner. If Junmyeon realized the problems this posed for their plan, he gave no indication of it. Kyungsoo waited until the servant had left before saying anything, but as soon as the door shut and they were left alone in Kyungsoo's room, he quietly exploded.

"This is exactly why you should have said we were married!" He tried to whisper and shout at the same time, so it came out sounding like his normal voice, only more hoarse. "We've got two whole days of tournament starting tomorrow. You'll be busy with that all day, and the only time we'll have to plan is at night, which is going to be ten times harder now that we've got separate rooms. What will people say when they catch your-" his mouth twisted uncomfortably "-your wife-to-be sneaking into your room in the middle of the night?"

"Exactly what you'd think they'd say," joked Junmyeon. He saw Kyungsoo glaring at him and sighed. "Stop scolding me. You're worrying too much. What do we have to plan, anyway? You keep fooling everyone into thinking you're a lady, I win the tournament for you, we ask the court magician to help cure my father, and then we leave. What's to plan?"

Kyungsoo couldn't tell him that he hoped to search the castle for any traces of the magic sickness's source, so he mumbled something under his breath instead.

"What did you say?" Junmyeon asked.

"I said a lot can happen in a few days," Kyungsoo repeated, more clearly. "If something happens and we have to make something up, having two rooms is going to cause problems. I just really think you should have said we were married."

"Thank you for your input, Kyungsoo," said Junmyeon. "It'll be fine. Besides, no one fights for their _wife's_ honor anyway. It's more romantic this way, don't you think?"

Something about his overly sappy smile had Kyungsoo's stomach turning over in disconcerting ways. Kyungsoo cleared his throat and turned away.

"I've got dresses to hang up," he said. "And I need to change."

"Right, I'll leave you to that," said Junmyeon. "I take it you can handle all those... laces and buttons and stuff? You don't need me to...?"

"No," said Kyungsoo quickly. "I'm fine."

"All right then. There's a banquet tonight to kick of the festivities. I don't know if you knew that. Someone will let you know, I'm sure." Junmyeon backed out the door. "I'll see you then."

Kyungsoo nodded without a word. The door shut once more and he immediately set to work figuring out the dress, wishing for a moment that he'd accepted Junmyeon's half-spoken offer of help before quickly shelving that idea.

 

By the time someone arrived to announce the feast, Kyungsoo had managed to traded his heavy dress for something lighter in a green silk that looked like it might make an acceptable evening gown. He tweaked the cloth on his head to make sure none of his hair was showing before venturing out into the corridor to join Junmyeon. Once they got to the hall, it was apparent that they were more outsiders here than anyone else. Most of the other knights seemed to know each other already, judging by the number of loud conversations going on, so Junmyeon and Kyungsoo sat off to the side by themselves down at one end of a table. They were among the few who had chosen to take their seats, the others happy to stand and converse until the meal actually started. At least with this many people talking all at once, Kyungsoo's voice would more than likely go unnoticed if he forgot and said something to Junmyeon. The herald by the door had to clear his throat several times and shout to be heard.

"His Majesty, King Minseok," he announced.

Kyungsoo was glad to see the king enter before anyone had a chance to actually start talking to them, since his arrival had every head turned to the front of the room. Once everyone was seated, the king stood in front of his seat on the dais to address them. Sitting next to him on a smaller, but no less ornate chair, was the court magician, a beautiful young man in pure white robes. The sheer amount of power that radiated off of him was enough to distract Kyungsoo so much that he almost missed the beginning of the king's speech.

"My friends," he was saying, "it has been nearly a year to the day since you crowned me your king. I know the past year since my father's death has been a sad time for us all, not least of all myself."

He barely looked old enough to have been king for a year—perhaps somewhere around Junmyeon and Kyungsoo's own age—and something about him reminded Kyungsoo very much of Junmyeon. It struck him that if their plan failed, in a year's time Junmyeon might be standing there in that very same position, taking the throne after losing both king and father. It wasn't that he doubted that Junmyeon could handle it, but even though his voice was steady and warm, there was still something sad about King Minseok's eyes that Kyungsoo wanted very much not to see in Junmyeon's. One day it would happen, he knew, but not now. Not if he could help it.

_He knows, though,_ thought Kyungsoo. _This is someone who knows what it's like to lose a parent. Maybe even if we don't win, he'll still help us._

"I have felt the love coming from the whole kingdom during this time," the king was saying, "and I am grateful for it. My deepest thanks go to Lu Han, who has been with me with unfailing advice and guidance." He nodded to the white-robed man beside him, who smiled and dipped his head in return.

"That's who we'll be asking for help, I take it?" Junmyeon whispered to Kyungsoo.

"Yeah," Kyungsoo whispered back, but he was uneasy.

It wasn't just that the power he could feel from Lu Han felt like a physical weight on his lungs, though that was part of it. It also felt familiar, and in a way that he found highly disconcerting. The king continued to speak, but Kyungsoo wasn't really listening anymore, too focused on this strange feeling. While he was far from skilled at identifying magic based purely on their aura, this was very different from the presence he had felt in the forest or while in Soojung's house. In fact... Kyungsoo sucked in a harsh breath. More than anything it felt like the magic hovering over King Siwon's sickbed and the sickly fog from the poisoned goblet.

"What is it?" Junmyeon nudged him.

Kyungsoo shook his head. He wasn't ready to reveal his suspicions yet, but if he was right about this, then the very person they had come to ask for help could be the one responsible for the assassination attempts to begin with. If that turned out to be true, they would have to approach their request very carefully.

“-and is my hope that this tournament will be the start of many years of happiness and prosperity for this kingdom,” King Minseok was finishing. “I will not take any more time from this evening, but will simply say to you all: ‘Welcome.’”

Kyungsoo remained watching as the king sat down and servants with trays full of food started to move into the room. As if he could feel Kyungsoo's gaze on him, just then Lu Han looked over in their direction. When Soojung looked at him, Kyungsoo felt like she was looking at his whole life, from his past all the way into his future, so that she knew him through any disguise and under any name he chose to adopt. The way Lu Han studied him now was different. It was like he was cutting through Kyungsoo's disguise with vision like a knife, poking through the split layers and probing deep underneath to see what Kyungsoo was. Kyungsoo didn’t know how much he could see, but it was safe to assume he could see Kyungsoo’s magic, the same way his own was apparent to Kyungsoo, and this, more than anything else, made him anxious. He concentrated on his food now that dishes and platters had been laid in front of them, waiting for the invasive presence in his mind to pass on. It faded slightly, but didn’t entirely disappear. The next time Kyungsoo snuck a glance up towards the high table, Lu Han was no longer looking at him. There was still a prickle of curiosity prying into his skull, but it seemed not to be at the forefront of Lu Han’s mind anymore.

“I’m going to head back to my room,” he told Junmyeon, clearing the last scraps of meat off his plate. “I’m really tired.”

“Are you sure?” asked Junmyeon. “I think they’ve got jugglers later.”

“Yeah, I want to get enough sleep before tomorrow. It’s been a long trip,” Kyungsoo said. “I’ll see you later.”

“Suit yourself,” Junmyeon shrugged. He stuffed what looked like an entire leg of turkey into his mouth and Kyungsoo wondered exactly who decided who got to be royalty because clearly they lacked the observational skills for the job.

 

Once he was out of the hall, Kyungsoo did not head back towards his room, but instead stood outside the doors and tried to concentrate on the magical aura he had felt coming from Lu Han. It felt different from the other magic he had felt all around him since they arrived in the city, but after a few minutes’ concentration, he was able to detect the same aura coming from two different places in the palace. One of them was in the hall behind him, but another, fainter, one was coming from somewhere below him and to the left. He wasn’t sure how he could feel a direction for something as amorphously contained in his mind as this was, but he followed the aura like someone following the smell of cooking food, closing his eyes every so often to try and pinpoint it better. He almost walked into a few walls, but after twenty minutes or so of wandering, he found himself in a branching hallway several floors below, somewhere below ground level.

There were no windows, so the only light came from the torches in brackets along the walls. Wherever the magic was coming from, it was somewhere nearby. It was like a low hum in Kyungsoo's mind now, and yet it somehow still managed to feel like the smoke and the poison he'd felt in Camelot; a sound and yet also a smell, or maybe a sound that _had_ a smell. The amount of power had been more overwhelming in Lu Han's presence, but down here it was heavier and more sickly, like it had been diluted and dispersed in the great hall but was concentrated here. It turned Kyungsoo's stomach, but he followed it to a large wooden door. Whatever it was, it was definitely coming from whatever room he had just found. Just as his hand was reaching out towards the handle, Kyungsoo heard the sound of footsteps coming down the corridor towards him, so he took several steps backwards just in time to see three guards round the corner.

"What are you doing down here?" one of them asked, catching sight of Kyungsoo.

They strode down the hall towards him purposefully. Kyungsoo was hoping to beat a hasty retreat, but that ceased to be an option when one of the guards grabbed his arm. He let out a noise of surprise, which he remembered just in time to pitch up so that it came out sounding like a startled squeak.

"What's the matter?" asked another. "Cat got your tongue?"

"Little mouse like this, I wouldn't be surprised," said the third.

Kyungsoo would have been offended, but he was too busy looking around for some sort of distraction. A quick flare of magic, his eyes carefully fixed on the floor to hide the golden light, and for a moment several of the torches flared up to three times their usual size, making the guards whirl around. The one holding Kyungsoo let go, and Kyungsoo was just making his escape when he ran straight into none other than Lu Han.

"What are you doing here?" said Lu Han sharply. The guards looked back around at the sound of his voice.

"My lord!" one of them said. "We were just asking her the same thing."

"Didn't want to answer, so we were about to take her to see the king and yourself," said another.

Lu Han looked between them and what he could see of Kyungsoo's face, which was now mostly hidden as Kyungsoo curled inward. "Shy" was not something that came naturally to Kyungsoo most of the time, but now, with Lu Han looming over him, he found that he could pull off "nervous" quite convincingly.

"It would take a fool not to realize that she is clearly one of our guests," Lu Han said. "And it looks like I have _three_ fools in front of me now."

"My lord," said one of them, though he looked less certain than before, "we knew how particular you are that no one should be allowed into your chambers without a good reason. She couldn't give us an explanation for what she was doing here."

"Because you frightened her into silence, no doubt," said Lu Han. "I'm sure she just got lost. Isn't that right?"

Kyungsoo nodded enthusiastically. He had no idea why Lu Han would want to make excuses for him, but if he could get out of here without having to say a word then he would worry about Lu Han's motives later.

"Next time _think_ before you rush in brandishing your swords," Lu Han admonished them.

"Didn't brandish any swords," one of the guards muttered, but was elbowed by his friend.

"We're sorry, my lord."

"Don't be sorry, just don't do it again," sighed Lu Han. "You may go."

They apologized to Kyungsoo once more before leaving, but Lu Han remained blocking Kyungsoo's path to the stairs.

"Lady Do, isn't it?" Lu Han asked.

Kyungsoo nodded again. He still avoided looking at Lu Han, but even with his face hidden, he could feel Lu Han's magic prying into his mind again. To his horror, this time he felt his own magic react to the invasion, rearing its head like a growling dog. He squeezed his eyes tight, trying to suppress it before Lu Han could sense it, but something told him it was too late. He waited for Lu Han to say something.

"I saw you at the feast," Lu Han said, as if nothing had happened. His magic still probed at Kyungsoo, trying to provoke another response, but Kyungsoo had it under control now. "I thought I recognized your companion... What was his name?"

That _did_ get a reaction, though not a magical one. Kyungsoo's throat went dry. He couldn't have recognized Junmyeon.

"Suho," he managed to croak.

"Ah, Sir Suho, that's right," Lu Han said. "A strange name. I should remember that."

Kyungsoo didn't say anything. Part of him now wished he'd gone along with Junmyeon's plan to wear a helmet the entire time they were there, even though he knew that was ridiculous.

"It's getting late and the others will be leaving the feast soon," Lu Han went on. "Would you like me to accompany you back to your room?"

Kyungsoo looked up sharply, meeting Lu Han's eyes for the first time since the banquet. Lu Han's expression was blankly polite, but there was a glimmer of unsettling recognition in his eyes. Kyungsoo shook his head.

"Are you sure?" Lu Han asked. "I wouldn't want you to get lost again."

"That's all right," Kyungsoo whispered. He backed away, edging towards the stairs.

"As you wish," Lu Han bowed. He turned to let Kyungsoo pass, and Kyungsoo was more than halfway to the stairs when he spoke again. "Is your voice all right?"

Kyungsoo hadn't thought his heart could pound any louder, but he could hear it in his ears now. "A cold," he said.

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Lu Han. He sounded sorry. Kyungsoo looked back to see him standing in the now-open doorway. "I hope you'll be feeling better by the morning. That's when all the fun starts."

Then he was gone, the wooden door closing firmly behind him. Kyungsoo fled.

 

By the time he got back to his room, the hall had emptied and Junmyeon had already retired for the night. Kyungsoo had no choice but to do the same. It took him a long time to sleep, though, since his mind was racing. There was obviously more to Lu Han than met the eye, and the magic coming from him and from the room was almost certainly the same that had been in the cup meant for Junmyeon and that had killed the man who brought it and that was now causing King Siwon's illness. He wasn't sure yet what this meant for their plan, and he didn't know how much Lu Han had figured out about them, but he knew that there were two things for him to do now. He had to tell Junmyeon that he thought there was something fishy going on, and then he had to find proof. The proof probably lay inside that room downstairs, judging by how keen Lu Han was on guarding it. If Kyungsoo could just get inside somehow, he might find more information to explain what was going on here, but that would involve making sure Lu Han was out of the way and occupied for a considerable length of time. With Junmyeon's help, it might be possible. Kyungsoo lay in bed for a long time, staring at the rich canopy above him, before he finally fell asleep, half-formed schemes still twisting around each other all throughout his dreams.

As used as he was to waking up early to be ready for whenever Junmyeon chose to wake up at call on him, Kyungsoo was awake before the sun was up. He pulled out the spellbook from the bottom of his bag, reading by candlelight until the sun peeked out from behind the houses spread out below and light trickled over the windowsill onto the pages. Kyungsoo had looked carefully but there seemed to be only one magical solution that both applied to their situation and that Kyungsoo thought he could manage. He was thankful that the clothes Jinri had bought were mostly of a simple design that Kyungsoo could get in and out of on his own, because he was able to get dressed fairly quickly and slip out of the castle just as the market stalls were opening for the day’s business. They would close around midday for the start of the tournament, so there were already people out on the streets to buy everything they needed before then. Kyungsoo had a list that he had written out of ingredients and supplies he would need, and the magical nature of the city meant that they were easily acquired. Kyungsoo was just glad that Junmyeon had left at least half of the journey’s funds in Kyungsoo’s pack since the items he needed for this potion were not cheap. With any luck Junmyeon wouldn’t notice until he had bigger things to distract him. Kyungsoo made it back to his room without having to stop to speak to anyone, but he still heaved a sigh of relief the instant he got back to his room. If this potion worked, he wouldn’t have to worry about his voice giving them away for the rest of their stay, which was an added level of worry that Kyungsoo just didn’t want to have to deal with if things really were as serious as he thought.

After he had laid out all of his purchases on the table, he flipped through the book once more to make sure he had everything prepared, that nothing had been left out. The first thing he would need was a fire. Kyungsoo made sure the door was locked before he leaned over the stack of dry wood in the fireplace and whispered another spell his research had found him. If Junmyeon were to walk in on him now, it wouldn’t matter whether the potion worked or not.

“ _Bærne_.” Burn. The word’s meaning resonated in Kyungsoo’s mind this time, when before it had only been half-grasped.

The wood caught instantly. Kyungsoo had produced flames before, at home in the winter when the fire went out overnight and his mother’s hands were shaking too hard to hold the flint, but these leapt higher than they ever had before. No matter how much power Kyungsoo apparently had, knowing the right words of command seemed to channel it far more effectively than he had previously managed. He had also bought a small cauldron-shaped pot—silver because the book had made it quite clear that no other metal would do—into which he now began to add ingredients, chopping or crushing the leaves and roots as the book required. When that was all done, he was left with a rather unappetizing paste which he was supposed to boil over a fire for an hour, until it liquefied. The fireplace in a rich bedroom was not equipped to hold pots, so Kyungsoo was reduced to looking up a levitation spell and sitting in front of the fireplace, concentrating on the silver pot hard enough to make his eyes cross. By the time an hour had passed, there was a headache starting to build in a solid line behind his eyes from temple to temple, but there was still more to be done before the potion would be complete. He cut a strange-looking fruit into quarters and squeezed the juice into what looked like a thick brown gravy.

“ _Clænee heáfodwóþe,_ ” he said, “ _sunscínlice, swa swétee swa fersce ríðe, for me sciep nú._ ”*

Kyungsoo’s eyes flashed. As he stirred, the pot’s contents thinned out, shimmering for a moment with a strange light before turning clear as water. That was something he hadn’t been expecting. When he sniffed at it experimentally, it was as odorless as water too, which was a massive improvement from how it had smelled a minute before. Whatever the spell had done, it had made the potion into something Kyungsoo thought he could actually stomach. It struck him that using this much magic all at once might very well attract Lu Han’s attention. He couldn’t tell how obvious his own magic was, but it was certainly far closer than any of the minor spells being cast in the lower town at any given moment. It was something he had considered in conceiving the plan to begin with, but now that the magic was actually done, the danger seemed more immediately present. Kyungsoo shook off the feeling. It was more important not to be found out by any one of the many people they’d have to associate with over the course of the next few days. The real danger was in their fellow knights and ladies, whom they could not easily escape. Lu Han was one person, and Kyungsoo could avoid him easily enough. While… attempting to search his chambers. Kyungsoo groaned. Alright, so avoiding Lu Han might prove to be a little difficult, but if he kept from using any more magic while they were there, perhaps he could deflect Lu Han’s suspicions long enough to win the prize and leave this city behind them. Kyungsoo measured out a small amount of the potion into a cup before pouring the rest of it into a flask to carry around with him. He had no clear idea of how long it took to wear off, so he would just have to keep a supply with him at all times. He didn’t think it gave off any particular magic energy now that the spell was complete, but then again he always had trouble sensing his own magic. He told himself it was only two more days, and drank the contents of the cup in one gulp.

It looked like it would taste like nothing much, which it did, if “nothing much” meant the sweetest, purest water Kyungsoo had ever tasted. It cleared his throat the way a cup of hot tea and honey did when he had a cold, except that now when he spoke his voice was several times higher than usual. It didn’t _feel_ any different, but the sound of his voice alone was enough to make him look around in surprise. He spent a few minutes talking to himself, just to get used to hearing it, before unlocking the door to join Junmyeon. By this time it was a little over an hour until midday, and everywhere Kyungsoo looked, there were servants preparing for the tournament. Knights in armor passed him in the corridor, arm in arm with their ladies, all headed outside to look over the stadium ground. Junmyeon was still in his room, half into his armor with half-eaten plates of food scattered across the table. He looked up when Kyungsoo came in.

“Oh, you’ve decided to make an appearance after all,” he said. “I know the luxury of sleeping in until noon is new to you, but don’t let it go to your head.”

“I’ll try,” Kyungsoo said.

Junmyeon blinked. “You sound different.”

“I’ve been practicing,” said Kyungsoo. “We’ve got two days here, right? I can’t stay completely silent the whole time, can I? Are you going to eat that, by the way?”

“I guess not,” said Junmyeon. “Haven’t you eaten?”

“Nah, too busy practicing,” said Kyungsoo. He picked up a bowl and poked at the contents for a moment before taking a bite. “What’s this?”

“Pumpkin porridge, I think,” said Junmyeon. “Help yourself.”

“No, thanks. I’ll stick to the bread and jam.” Kyungsoo took a bite. “What are you doing?”

“Oh, you know, not much,” said Junmyeon. “Just thought I’d wander down in a minute and see what all this tournament business is about. Apparently there are a lot of people here for it.”

“You don’t say?” Kyungsoo mumbled. He decided he liked the raspberry jam a lot better than the blueberry.

“Kyungsoo.” Junmyeon sounded exasperated.

“What?”

“Would you put down that toast and help me find the rest of my armor?”

 

By the time Kyungsoo had helped him gather everything up, they had to hurry to make it down to the tournament ground before the bells announced the beginning of the competition. There were tents off to the side for the competitors to dress and rest in, and Kyungsoo followed Junmyeon without thinking, only stopping when the palace servants already waiting inside gave him odd looks. At that point it was a little too late to do anything other than pretend it was purposeful, so Kyungsoo picked up Junmyeon’s vambraces as calmly as possible, moving to buckle them onto Junmyeon’s arms the way he’d done many times before. Junmyeon noticed the confused looks this was causing and smiled pleasantly at the servants.

“I’m sorry you had to wait here for us,” he said. “I should have mentioned that I don’t need any other help with my armor. I know it’s a little strange, but we’ve always felt that it brings me good luck to have my dear betrothed help me prepare.”

He took Kyungsoo’s hand as he said this, so Kyungsoo did his best to look affectionate and lend as much credence as he could to Junmyeon’s story by not kicking him in the leg for being so disgustingly sappy. The sooner everyone else left, the sooner he could voice his suspicions to Junmyeon. It took them a while, but eventually they were the only two left in the tent.

“I think something’s not right about Lu Han,” said Kyungsoo instantly.

Junmyeon looked confused. “You mean the court magician?” he asked. “The one we came here to ask for help?”

“Yes, him,” Kyungsoo nodded. “Did you see the way he was staring over at us at the banquet last night? He almost looked like he’d recognized you. I’ve just got a really bad feeling about him, and I’m wondering whether or not he has something to do with your father being sick to begin with.”

“And your plan is to…?” Junmyeon looked at him.

“See if we can take a look in his room,” said Kyungsoo. “Maybe there’s something there. A clue or something about whatever’s going on.”

“Let me get this straight,” said Junmyeon, sitting down and bending over to strap on his greaves. “You want to break into the private rooms of the powerful sorcerer whose help we’ve traveled for days to ask for, all because you’ve… what? Got a bad feeling?”

“Something like that,” Kyungsoo admitted.

“Call me crazy, but that sounds like a terrible plan,” Junmyeon said.

“No, but listen to me-”

“No, Kyungsoo, listen to yourself. You have no actual proof that there’s anything suspicious about Lu Han other than some gut feeling, and if, by some miracle chance, you happen to have stumbled across something, breaking into his room on a wild goose chase sounds like the absolute most dangerous thing you could possibly do.”

“If you helped me, we would have a good chance of getting away with it,” Kyungsoo argued.

“But I’m not going to help you with whatever crazy scheme you’ve got planned,” Junmyeon said. “Maybe if I had something other than your nebulous hunch to go on, but I don’t.” He looked at Kyungsoo’s mutinous face and sighed. “Look, our best plan is still to win this tournament and claim the prize. Even if he has something to do with it all, he’ll have to go along with our request or risk revealing himself, right?”

Kyungsoo grumbled as he picked up the gorget, helping Junmyeon settle it around his neck before strapping it into place. He couldn’t lay out all of his reasons for mistrusting Lu Han without revealing his own magic, he knew, so it seemed like there was little else he could do to convince Junmyeon. He stood back and looked Junmyeon over.

“I think you’re ready,” he said.

“Thanks,” said Junmyeon. “And hey, you’re doing a really good job imitating a woman’s voice. Very feminine.”

This time Kyungsoo really did kick him in the leg.

It turned out that Junmyeon had not been idle that morning, the way he thought Kyungsoo had. Realizing that to participate in the tournament, he would require the proper equipment, Junmyeon had been out to scour the market for suitable lances. He had decided to remain using his regular armor, but as they hadn't been expecting to joust when they rode out, and since a knight could only use his own lances, Junmyeon had had to acquire some in a hurry. Kyungsoo started to see why Junmyeon had been so irritated at his late appearance, but all he could really think about was how lucky he had been not to run into Junmyeon amongst the shops that morning. When the palace servants came back and Junmyeon told them that Kyungsoo would be squiring for him as well, they gave them strange looks but accepted it nonetheless. Junmyeon surprised Kyungsoo by giving him a quick peck on the cheek "for luck," but he was gone before he had a chance to say anything, leaving Kyungsoo to feel, for the first time, just as embarrassed as "Lady Do" was supposed to be.

The tent proved to be a good place from which to watch the mock-fights, since it was shady and isolated enough that Kyungsoo could watch the contestants rather than watching to see if anyone in the audience was looking at him strangely. The palace servants seemed to take it as a strange touch of devotion and left him there without hassle. Kyungsoo pulled a chair up to the tent flap to watch the proceedings. Though he certainly would never say it out loud, for fear of inflating Junmyeon's ego even further, the crown prince of Camelot was completely in his element here, unhorsing rider after rider before disarming them within minutes. Kyungsoo didn't know whether it was his sheer skill or the fact that, being a newcomer, none of the other knights had had previous experience with his fighting style, but whatever the reason, Junmyeon was shooting up the ranks faster than anyone else. The crowd was going wild for him with shouts of "Suho!" ringing on all sides. He didn't really blame them one bit. Kyungsoo might have been biased, but he was sure that there was something in the way Junmyeon sat his horse that set him in a class above everyone else. He nearly always broke his lance on the first try, and it never took him more than two charges to unhorse his opponent. Kyungsoo was as caught up in cheering as anyone else when he happened to look up into the stands and the cheer died in his throat. From his seat beside the king, Lu Han was watching the entire thing with a sober intensity that could bode nothing good. As if he could feel someone watching him, Lu Han looked down at the tent where Kyungsoo sat and smiled just once. Kyungsoo's blood ran cold, and while he still cheered for the rest of Junmyeon's matches, for the rest of the day it was more subdued than before.

 

There was another massive banquet that night, to mark the end of the tournament's first day, and all anyone could talk about was Junmyeon. The knights that he had defeated might have been resentful, but Junmyeon had such earnest complements for them all that none of them seemed to be able to hold a grudge. He was able to pick out specific moves or techniques for each one, matching fighting style to person and name to face in a way that Kyungsoo found dizzying. Kyungsoo figured it probably had to do with being introduced to large numbers of people from an early age. Until he had come to Camelot, Kyungsoo had known only one small group of people and had had years in which to learn their names. For the most part Junmyeon took care of the conversation so that Kyungsoo didn’t have to talk, but the few times one of the ladies came over to speak to Kyungsoo specifically, he was able to keep the topic safely limited to the tournament and avoided all personal questions, whether about himself or about Junmyeon. None of the knights spoke to him, as engrossed as they were in tactical discussion with Junmyeon. Kyungsoo spent most of the time fidgeting with his unfamiliar skirts and trying very hard not to scratch his head and mess up the cloth there. It felt like now that his head was covered all day, every itch was concentrated under that damned cloth, where he couldn’t reach it without risking exposing his cropped hair.

With as many people coming to see them as there were, it shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise as it did when Lu Han came by to pay his respects as well, but Kyungsoo still visibly startled when he saw the sorcerer. Lu Han had waited until most of the others had left to approach them, so Kyungsoo had no other choice but to acknowledge him, pretending to be the well-bred lady he was supposed to be and that he hoped Lu Han would take him to be.

“Lady Do, so good to see you again,” said Lu Han. “You’ve had no more trouble finding your way around, I hope?”

“No,” said Kyungsoo. He trusted that his magically altered voice would be convincing enough to fool Lu Han. “Luckily the tournament grounds are so clearly marked that even someone with as much of an underdeveloped sense of direction as myself has no trouble finding it.”

Lu Han blinked once and then smiled broadly. “I’m glad to hear it,” he said. “And I’m glad to hear your voice doing so much better. It really is surprising _how much_ of a difference one night can make, isn’t it, Sir Suho?”

He addressed his last words to Junmyeon, who had just gotten out of a conversation with a very large, very vociferous older knight. Junmyeon looked back and forth between them for a moment, then slipped easily into the conversation.

“Of course,” he said. “Though now that you have my accord, might I ask what I’m agreeing to, exactly?”

Lu Han laughed.

“I was just commenting how much better Lady Do’s voice sounds since last night,” he said. “Don’t you think she sounds more like herself now?”

Junmyeon managed not to look confused, and he only glanced at Kyungsoo for a split second before answering. “She certainly does. I know that cold had been bothering her for a few days now, so I hope we’ve seen the last of it.”

Kyungsoo could practically _see_ the calculation behind Lu Han’s eyes, and he thanked every higher power in the universe for Junmyeon’s apparent ability to read a situation. Lu Han, as far as Kyungsoo could tell, decided that this line of questioning was getting him nowhere. He turned to Junmyeon instead.

“We’ve never been properly introduced, have we?” he asked. “I’m Lu Han.”

“It would be hard to go a day around here without hearing about you,” Junmyeon smiled. “My name is Suho, though I think you already know that as well.”

“Yes, but it’s more comfortable to go through the formalities, isn’t it?” Lu Han said. “This is the first tournament you have competed in here, isn’t it? Have you been here on other business, perhaps?”

“No, this is actually the first time traveling to the city for both of us,” Junmyeon said.

“Really?” Lu Han’s eyes went wide. “It’s strange, but I could have sworn you looked familiar, like I’ve seen you somewhere before.”

“That would be strange indeed.” Junmyeon was still smiling, but Kyungsoo could see that it was a little less genuine than before. Lu Han, who did not have the benefit of knowing Junmyeon as well as Kyungsoo did, didn’t appear to notice. “I’m flattered, but I don’t think you could have seen me before.”

“Most likely you look like someone else I know,” Lu Han admitted. “It really is funny; the feeling is so strong, but I’m sure you’re right. Where did you say you were from?”

“Nowhere very close,” Junmyeon said hastily. “A very small holding… off to the south of here.”

“Really?” said Lu Han. “Because I would have said your accent was more _northern_ , which I thought was strange. The only things north of here are the forest and then the border past that, but those lands are all under Camelot’s rule, aren’t they? I didn’t think anyone from _there_ would be coming to our humble tournament.”

“I think members of my family may be from there,” Junmyeon said, his smile now definitely fixed. “But, as I said, we are more immediately from the south.”

“Of course,” said Lu Han. “You did say that. Well, I should go take my place now… enjoy the rest of the feast, and good luck tomorrow. I know I, for one, will be watching you with great interest.”

He smiled at them again before making his way back to the high table. Junmyeon turned to Kyungsoo, who gave him a look that meant “I told you so.”

“Alright, so maybe you have a point,” Junmyeon admitted. “That was weird. Some of those questions were definitely trying to get information. You think he suspects something?”

“Sure seems like it, doesn’t it?” Kyungsoo said. “And why does he care so much if he doesn’t have something to do with it all?”

“And you want to break into his private chambers and search them,” Junmyeon groaned. “That’s what he was talking about when he mentioned you getting lost last night, wasn’t it? You got too close and he chased you off.”

“Something like that,” Kyungsoo said.

He looked over at Lu Han, but the sorcerer was deep in conversation with the king and ignored them. The magical energy he gave off, though, was just as strong as ever and Kyungsoo could feel the pressure of it from all the way across the room. He reached up to scratch his head absentmindedly, but his fingers met cloth and he pursed his lips in frustration. This disguise was almost more trouble than it was worth.

“It’s all suspicious, I’ll grant you that,” Junmyeon was saying, “but how exactly are we going to search the rooms without anyone noticing?”

“I’ve got a plan for that,” Kyungsoo said.

“Of course you do,” muttered Junmyeon.

“I can’t tell you right now, though,” said Kyungsoo. “Too many people to overhear.”

“I guess one of us will have to come by the other’s room after the feast then,” said Junmyeon. “Don’t get spotted.”

“What?” Kyungsoo frowned. “Why do _I_ have to be the one?”

Junmyeon just looked at him.

“This wouldn’t even be a problem if we were staying in the same room,” Kyungsoo complained.

“I didn’t know you cared that much,” Junmyeon said, slinging an arm around his shoulders. “It’s nice to know you can’t bear to be out of my presence.”

Kyungsoo shrugged his arm off, at which Junmyeon looked oddly disappointed. He reached out to take hold of Kyungsoo’s hand instead, lacing their fingers together. Kyungsoo looked around at the other tables and coughed awkwardly, trying to ignore the look Junmyeon was giving him.

“Will you do it if I ask nicely?” Junmyeon asked. He appeared to take the grudging noise Kyungsoo made as affirmative, because he cleared his throat and said quite earnestly, “Kyungsoo, you were right about Lu Han acting strangely, and I was wrong to dismiss you earlier. Will you please meet me later on so we can discuss your plan?”

Kyungsoo really wished that didn’t work on him as well as it apparently did.

“This is all your fault,” he said. “I just want you to know this.”

“So I’ll see you around bedtime then?”

Kyungsoo sighed. “Sure.”

 

They went back to their rooms after the feast as usual, but Kyungsoo waited before venturing out towards Junmyeon’s room. They had been some of the first people to leave, since neither of them particularly felt like sitting under Lu Han’s watchful eye, but there were still many people going back and forth in the hallway outside Kyungsoo’s door. By the time most of the footsteps had stopped, Kyungsoo had been pacing the inside of his room for the better part of an hour. He was sure Junmyeon was doing the same, wondering what was keeping Kyungsoo, but if he had to sneak his way through the halls to the room of someone who was supposed to be his female alter ego’s fiance, he was damned well going to wait until the risk of being caught was seriously diminished. It probably wouldn’t be the end of the world if he were seen, but it might raise some interesting questions that Kyungsoo did not particularly want to have to answer, and it would quite likely derail their plans to search for more information that night. With any luck, this was the last night they would spend here, having won the tournament and prize tomorrow and started their journey back to Camelot, so if Lu Han was at all involved in King Siwon’s illness, now was the time to find that out.

When he finally ventured out, the hallway was clear. Kyungsoo looked around before proceeding as quickly as he could while still appearing calm and purposeful. If anyone saw him looking skittish the jig would be up right then and there, but he was hoping that if he looked confident enough, like he had every right to be there, he would avoid any awkward questions. He was within sight of Junmyeon’s door when someone called after him.

“My lady! Haven’t gotten lost again, have you?”

Kyungsoo hid his wince and turned around. The same three guards from the night before were approaching him now, the one in front with a large grin on his face.

"No, thank you," said Kyungsoo. "I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine."

"Where are you headed off to?" their leader asked. "We'd be happy to escort you."

"Again, I appreciate it, but that won't be necessary." Kyungsoo waited for them to leave, but they seemed uninclined to move. He tried to look as dignified as possible. "I hope you aren't thinking of attempting to detain me."

The guards looked so affronted at the implication that Kyungsoo was sure it was faked.

"Wouldn't dream of it," said one. "You are completely free to pass as you wish."

Kyungsoo waited a moment longer. They remained exactly where they were. Kyungsoo gritted his teeth, crossed the corridor, and reached for the door handle.

"A word of advice," said one of the guards. "An unmarried woman visiting her betrothed, alone, in his room after nightfall? It's likely to cause talk."

There was something almost anticipatory about his voice. The only thing that Kyungsoo could think of was that they had been sent by Lu Han to keep an eye out for this very eventuality. If Lu Han thought that Junmyeon and Kyungsoo had any questions concerning his motives, surely the last thing he would want would be for the two of them to have time to plot. It was unlikely that he'd told these men anything—judging from the way he'd spoken to them the night before, Lu Han was unlikely to have taken them into his confidence—but no doubt they were under orders to uncover any secrets Kyungsoo might be hiding.

Kyungsoo very carefully arranged his face into what he hoped was a bashful smile because the other alternative was disgust and frustration. "Well, I hope you won't be spreading any unfounded rumors," he said. It sounded a little weak even to him.

"Ah, but it's a shame how talk does spread," said their leader. "The most harmless things just have a way of blowing up huge, don't they?"

Kyungsoo was at a loss for what to say. Luckily, he didn't have to think long since the door to Junmyeon's room opened abruptly.

"Don't just stand around in the hall all night long," said Junmyeon, leaning out. "For goodness' sake, get in- oh."

He belatedly realized that Kyungsoo was not the only one there. Junmyeon looked between Kyungsoo and the guards, his mouth open for a second as if he were about to say something, but one of the guards spoke up first.

"We were just warning m'lady about the danger of rumors, but looks to me like you're as reckless as she is," he said. "Used to be we would think twice before arranging nighttime meetings for everyone to see."

Junmyeon drew himself up to his full height, which, admittedly, was shorter than any of the three guards and Kyungsoo himself, but he looked far more regal than Kyungsoo thought he personally could probably ever hope to look.

"I was not aware that there was anything untoward about a man wishing to speak privately with his wife," he said.

"Wife?" said the guard, looking surprised.

"What?" said Kyungsoo.

Junmyeon drew Kyungsoo to his side, kicking him sharply on the ankle under the guise of a warm hug. "I know you didn’t want to say anything, my love, but what’s done is done. Your father will have to give us his blessing.”

“Right,” said Kyungsoo, hoping desperately that whatever insane plan Junmyeon had in mind would work.

“L- I mean,” one of the guards stammered, “I never heard that you were married.”

“We wanted to keep it a secret,” Junmyeon said seriously. “We had tried to make our parents see reason, but they would never let us be together. Too much senseless bad blood between our families. We married in secret, and then fled. We had hoped to hide here until their anger passed, and the tournament was too great an attraction.” He turned to Kyungsoo sorrowfully. “I know we were supposed to lay low, but I hope you can forgive me for giving in to my competitive nature.”

“Uh, yeah, of course,” said Kyungsoo.

Junmyeon continued to spin wild tales about Kyungsoo’s oppressive home life and their secret courtship, culminating in a headlong escape through the wilds with nothing but the clothes on their backs and barely enough money to feed them for a week. He told them about how he defended a small hamlet against a troop of bandits, and how the townsfolk’s gratitude had provided them with the food and money needed to get them safely here to the city. Kyungsoo spent the entire time watching him in utter disbelief. The entire story was too absurd to be believed, and yet the guards were hanging on his every word. Once again Kyungsoo was left to wonder exactly _what it was_ about Junmyeon that made the entire world believe anything he said without question and kept them from seeing what a complete thoughtless idiot he actually was.

_Probably some magical side effect of being “the once and future king,”_ thought Kyungsoo, and he would have rolled his eyes if they were still currently under observation. _Like the universe realized there’s no other way he’d survive long enough to do whatever great deeds he’s supposed to do._

One of the guards, their leader and apparent spokesman, still looked skeptical. “If you’re safely away now, then why wouldn’t you just say you were married to begin with?” he asked.

Kyungsoo remembered how vehement Junmyeon had been at their registration that they weren’t married and let out a loud snort. They all turned to look at him, so he turned it into a cough.

“He worries,” Kyungsoo explained sweetly.

“I would not want anything to cast a shade of doubt on my lady’s honor,” said Junmyeon proudly.

“It still doesn’t make much sense to me,” said the guard.

Junmyeon turned to Kyungsoo, taking him by the shoulders. He looked vastly apologetic and at least a little bit nervous, though it was faint enough that Kyungsoo was probably the only one to see it.

“Sorry,” he whispered, barely moving his lips.

Kyungsoo didn’t have much time to wonder what he meant because a second later Junmyeon was kissing him and he was suddenly too busy trying to figure out what he was supposed to do about it. A quick glance to the side showed him that the guards looked completely taken aback and their leader looked to be the most embarrassed of them all, so Kyungsoo decided that the thing to do was to go along with it. He wrapped his arms around Junmyeon’s neck and kissed him back determinedly. Junmyeon made a barely-audible sound and Kyungsoo thought dimly that it would be very nice if he would do that again. He tried not to think about that too closely, though. It was more important that the guards were slowly backing away, shuffling their feet awkwardly, so Kyungsoo paid attention to that and _not at all_ the fact that Junmyeon’s hands were now resting on his hips in a way that was a lot more familiar than Kyungsoo was used to.

By the time Junmyeon finally pulled away, the guards were no where to be seen. Junmyeon sucked in a shaky breath and gestured to the door next to them.

“We should-”

“Right,” said Kyungsoo quickly. “Before anyone else comes by.”

He followed Junmyeon in, willing his hands not to shake and ignoring the tiny part of his mind that told him that Junmyeon was much better at that than you’d think. That was a thought Kyungsoo really didn’t want to have to deal with right now, thank you very much.

_The Voice of Fate said this was my_ destiny _, huh? I’m supposed to protect the once and future king,_ thought Kyungsoo slightly hysterically. _It didn’t say anything about locking lips with him._

“So,” said Junmyeon, and Kyungsoo jumped slightly. “This… plan thing. That you wanted to talk to me about...”

“Right,” said Kyungsoo. “That.”

His voice cracked, only in reverse, which could only mean the potion was wearing off, but it made him feel even more awkward in this situation. If he couldn't even control his own voice, how could he hope to figure out everything else? He reached up to tug at the folds of cloth around his neck, but instead managed to set the entire wimple askew. He huffed with irritation when all his attempts to fix it only made it worse. The fact that his mind was still half occupied with what it felt like to kiss Junmyeon made the entire thing more difficult and infinitely more frustrating. He was about to rip the damn thing off his head entirely when Junmyeon grabbed both his hands.

“You’re messing it up,” said Junmyeon. “Honestly, Kyungsoo. Can’t get anything right.”

He tucked the entire thing back into place, but Kyungsoo was distracted when he thought he saw Junmyeon’s eyes flicker down to his lips. Some capricious impulse made him lick his lips, unable to tear his eyes away from the way Junmyeon swallowed in response. It took him a moment to realize that Junmyeon’s hands were still frozen in place on either side of his head. When Kyungsoo stepped back, they jerked away and fell back to Junmyeon’s sides, twitching awkwardly in the long silence.

Kyungsoo cleared his throat, more loudly than he had intended. “I have a plan,” he said.

“Yes,” said Junmyeon, sounding relieved. “I’d heard that, yes.”

“So my plan is this.” Kyungsoo sat down in a chair by the wall. He was glad to have something concrete to discuss; he could think about everything else later, when they didn’t have a job to do. “We need to get into Lu Han’s room to find out what he’s keeping in there, and the only way I can think of to do that is to get him away from there for a long enough length of time.”

“Makes sense,” agreed Junmyeon. “I assume you’ve got something in mind?”

“I got the idea from something Jinri did while we were staying with her and Soojung,” Kyungsoo nodded. “She had these herbs that she was planning to use to make that dairy farmer sick. I saw her leaving that night to use them. I… did some research and I found something in the market that might do something like that for us.”

“You’re going to… make Lu Han violently ill?”

“Not Lu Han,” said Kyungsoo. “ _King Minseok._ ”

Junmyeon opened his mouth. Then closed it. Then his eyebrows shot up.

“Wait,” he said. “Are you thinking-”

“If Lu Han is so famous for his healing magic, he’ll be the first person summoned if the king is suddenly sick, right? The herbs need to be burned, since the smoke is what does it, but there’s no way we can get the smoke into Lu Han’s underground chambers. If I can get to the king’s window, though, I can waft enough smoke into there to effect him before anyone notices.”

“How are you planning to get to his window?” Junmyeon frowned.

"I don't know, I'll scale the wall or something," said Kyungsoo.

"There's always the garderobe," suggested Junmyeon. "I heard about a king who was assassinated that way once."

"We're not trying to _assassinate_ him. And the smell would probably block out the herb smoke anyway." Kyungsoo wrinkled his nose. "I don't know, I'll figure it out. While I do that, though, I need you to make sure we have a clear path to the room when the time comes. I don't care how, just make sure we can get in."

"Got it," Junmyeon nodded after Kyungsoo described the hallway where Lu Han's door was located. "I think I have some ideas of my own."

"I'll leave that to you then," said Kyungsoo. Junmyeon turned to leave, but Kyungsoo stopped him. "Before you go, can I ask you one thing?"

Junmyeon looked embarrassed, red up to the tips of his ears. "If you mean about-"

"I wanted to ask if you have a pair of pants I could borrow," said Kyungsoo quickly. "I don't want to climb my way up to the window in a dress."

"Oh." Junmyeon sagged with relief. "Yeah. Pants. Sure."

While Junmyeon searched, Kyungsoo stared hard at the fabric of his skirt as he willed himself not to look anywhere else or _think_ about anything else. His concentration was so intense that he almost gasped out loud when he caught a slight mirage-like shift in the dress's fabric. He turned it this way and that, but it only reacted to the movement of his eyes, not the changing angle of the candlelight, in a way that could only mean the fabric was enchanted. Kyungsoo remembered the silk merchant Junmyeon had talked to, the one who had sold silks with an enchantment of attraction woven into it and suddenly Kyungsoo wished Junmyeon had never kissed him. Now that he had noticed this, he didn't know what to think—whether it was a desperate ploy to get them away from the guards with their disguise intact, or some effect of the dress's obviously bespelled cloth, or... Kyungsoo shook his head. He didn't have time to be thinking about anything like that when they had so delicate a mission to carry out, when a king's life hung in the balance.

"Here," said Junmyeon.

Kyungsoo looked up quickly, the folds of the dress falling from his hands. Junmyeon had dug out a pair of pants and he tossed them now to Kyungsoo before leaving him alone to change and to lament how much more complicated his life seemed to have gotten in the last twenty-four hours.

 

The hardest part of Kyungsoo's job turned out to be figuring out exactly which window was the king's. Once he'd located it, though, he was able to use a levitation spell—the same one he'd used to clean Junmyeon's room previously, only this time more controlled—to lift himself up to the level of the window, hugging the wall as closely as possible to avoid being spotted by the guards on the parapet. Once he'd wedged himself onto the sill he was able to slide the window open a crack without too much difficulty, using his body to shield the small flame he conjured from the view of anyone down below. He remained perched there until he heard the sound if loud coughing and groaning from inside and until he heard the order given for Lu Han to be summoned, then he let himself float back down to the ground. He messed up the landing a little, but was able to shake it off and meet Junmyeon downstairs at the door to Lu Han's room. The hallway was completely empty and Junmyeon had already started working on the door's lock. He looked around sharply when Kyungsoo reached the bottom step, but relaxed again when he saw who it was.

"I didn't know you could pick locks," said Kyungsoo. He noticed that his voice was completely back to normal now. They would just have to hope they didn't run into any more situations they needed to talk their way out of.

"There's a lot you don't know about me," Junmyeon said, a small crease appearing on his forehead as he concentrated.

"It's just not a very princely skill," said Kyungsoo. "You know, it just wouldn't have occurred to me to picture you breaking and entering."

Junmyeon frowned. "I don't know if you've noticed, but this takes a fair bit of concentration, so if it wouldn't _kill_ you to keep quiet-"

"Yes, right," said Kyungsoo. "Got it."

"Thank you," said Junmyeon. He paused. "And, if you must know, the cook used to keep all the leftovers under lock and key. Now _not another word_."

Kyungsoo hid a smile, but remained silent. He kept a lookout, but whatever Junmyeon had done to clear the area, it remained well cleared. Within a few minutes, the lock sprang open and the door swung inward at Junmyeon's touch.

“After you,” Junmyeon gestured.

Kyungsoo was surprised. “Why do I get the honors?”

“Well, it was your idea,” said Junmyeon. “Also because I don’t know if it’s booby trapped or not.”

“Oh, I _see_ ,” said Kyungsoo. “Send the expendable one first.”

“Something like that, yeah.”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and went through the door. He was only a few steps in before he collapsed.

“Augh!”

“Kyungsoo?” Junmyeon’s voice was not frantic, but only because he was taking great pains to make it so. He dropped to one knee and grabbed Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “Kyungsoo, are you alright?”

“Stubbed my toe,” Kyungsoo explained. He grinned at Junmyeon’s disgusted grumble. “You were worried though.”

“Get up,” said Junmyeon, disgruntled. “You look like even more of an idiot than usual.”

“You say that, but now I know you really do care.” Kyungsoo couldn’t resist another jab, especially when it made Junmyeon look as sheepish as he did right then. “Anyway, let’s start looking before anyone comes back. You start by searching those shelves back there.”

Junmyeon didn’t budge an inch but just stood there, looking at him.

“What’s the matter now?” asked Kyungsoo.

“What’s the magic word?”

“I don’t know, that’s what we’re looking for,” said Kyungsoo, exasperated. “What are you, five years old?”

“I think you’re getting a little bit too comfortable in your position,” said Junmyeon, but he moved towards the shelves anyway. “I have half a mind to toss you into the dungeon to rot when we get back, just to teach you a lesson.”

“Then who would find your pants for you when you kick them under the bed in the dark?”

“I _can_ get other servants for that, you know.”

“Nah, they’ll just suck up to you like everyone else,” said Kyungsoo. “None of them will take the piss out of you when you’re getting too full of yourself again.” He tilted his head to the side as he considered. “Admit it, you like me.”

Junmyeon dropped the book he was holding, and even in the dim lighting Kyungsoo could see the flush on his face. He suddenly remembered the smooth feeling of Junmyeon’s lips and nearly choked on his own breath.

“I mean,” he stammered. “It’s a change having someone around who doesn’t do nothing but kiss your ass all the time.”

If anything, Junmyeon went redder. He cleared his throat. “So, what exactly are we supposed to be looking for?” he asked. “A written confession? A bubbling green potion with a doll of my father dunked headfirst into it? The Pendragon emblem with a big X through it and a lot of skulls and crossbones?”

“Um, yes,” said Kyungsoo. “All of the above. Or maybe just some sort of reference to a plague spell that looks like it’s been moved or looked at recently.”

He started to look through the papers strewn across the tabletop. However great a sorcerer Lu Han was, he wasn’t very tidy. Something he and Junmyeon had in common, thought Kyungsoo. There were a large number of minor spells written out, and Kyungsoo itched to read them all to find out what they did, but there was no time and certainly no way to try them out without Junmyeon seeing. He set them aside regretfully before picking up several books, each half-written in. Most of them, while interesting, were mundane, harmless things like texts on herblore or creating beautiful but useless ornamental trinkets. One, however, caught Kyungsoo’s eye as soon as he opened it. The words looked strange at first, moving oddly in front of Kyungsoo’s eyes like a mirage, before he realized with a jolt of excitement that it was written _entirely_ in the Old Language. It was usual for the spells themselves to be written that way, since those were the words needed, but for an entire text to be written like this made Kyungsoo wonder what exactly it might be hiding. He had noticed that he was seeming to develop more and more of innate grasp of the Old Language the more spells he learned and used, so he was not too surprised that he had an easier time reading the text before him now than he had had in trying to read the prophecies before. Entire phrases and sentences jumped out at him now, their meaning clear in his mind even though the characters themselves made little sense. There was a low murmur in the back of his mind now, one that had been mostly quiet since he had come to live in Camelot. He tried to ignore it, but it grew louder and more insistent. Kyungsoo was about to give up and put the book down before it gave him a headache, but a word caught his eye and made him gasp out loud.

“Kyungsoo?” Junmyeon called. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing!” said Kyungsoo quickly. “Just a paper cut.”

He could hear Junmyeon sigh, but Kyungsoo was too busy scanning the page to pay him any attention. He had no idea why his new mentor would appear in a cryptic, possibly magical text, but there his name was, written in black and white on the page.

“ _Yixing is having second thoughts,_ ” it read, “ _but I know we’ve come too far to give up now..._ ” Then, a few pages later: “ _... and yet every time I suggest we take the next step, Yixing tries to cajole me into waiting another week, another month…_ ”

It was frustrating because Kyungsoo could not read more than a sentence or two at a time, so he was only seeing fragments of thought, but it was enough to tell him several things. First of all, Lu Han could read and write the Old Language fluently, which definitely said something about his magical skills and was something to file away for later. This read more like a diary than anything else, though one detailing a sort of magical research that, by its description, seemed to be bordering on the taboo. Second, and more importantly as far as Kyungsoo was concerned, the Yixing mentioned here was, as far as he could tell, the exact same Yixing who was currently living and working in Camelot. As Kyungsoo flipped further back in the book for more mentions of the name, he was torn between fear and relief—fear at the idea that Yixing had been close to Lu Han and had helped him with whatever plot he was concocting, and relief that Yixing had apparently been the voice of caution and concern the entire time, holding Lu Han back from taking the final step towards whatever goal he had in mind.

“ _... but no matter how many times I tell Yixing I need him, that I would never have gotten this far without him, there is still this growing distance between us…_ ”

Yixing had been important to Lu Han’s research, but had had second thoughts? Kyungsoo was wholly engrossed in the text, reading the Old Language faster and more clearly than he had ever been able to before. It almost sounded like the voice murmuring in his mind was whispering the words to him. Kyungsoo was more than halfway through the book when he came across a page completely empty except for one line of text in the middle of the page.

“ _Yixing left. I make the final move tonight._ ”

Kyungsoo stared at the page for a long moment. Whatever Lu Han had done, Yixing had not been a part of it. He may have helped at the beginning, but he had seen something dangerous in what they were doing and then left when Lu Han refused to listen to him. Kyungsoo realized that he had spent so much time searching for Yixing’s name that he had completely skipped over any passages that might actually explain Lu Han’s plan, meaning that now he had to go back and reread over much of the book to put together the pieces. What first caught his eye were the scattered references to “power” and “pact,” which started to come more and more frequently the further Kyungsoo looked, along with mentions of some sort of “oath” and a “price.” It was this last one that interested Kyungsoo the most, since it seemed to be the part that Yixing was most vehemently against.

After reading through most of the book for the second time, Kyungsoo thought he was starting to piece things together somewhat. It had taken him a while to pick up on it, but the word “elf” was brought up repeatedly throughout the entire text. Kyungsoo had not often heard of elves, but he remembered something faintly from his childhood—an old woman looked on by the rest of the town with a sort of affectionate contempt and dismissal because she left a saucer of cream out every night. Kyungsoo had thought that it was for the cats who roamed the village every night, since they were the ones who ended up drinking it, but then one day he had rejoined his mother in the town square after helping the miller replace one of his massive grindstones, only to find her patiently listening to the old woman’s sermon on the importance of feeding the elves to keep them happy. Only, she hadn’t used the word “elf,” and in fact had seemed very reluctant to say it. Kyungsoo’s mother explained to him later that many years ago, some stories had held much more weight to them and were meant to carry a warning. The old woman was one of the few who still believed this particular story, and that was why the townsfolk mocked her. Kyungsoo’s mother did not, though, and so Kyungsoo had been left with this vague sensation that maybe she too believed this strange old tale and its warnings.

Kyungsoo shivered as he realized what had happened. Lu Han had been planning to make some sort of deal to gain himself more magical power, but the elves who were promising this power were also demanding to be paid for their gifts. While Lu Han had been willing to pay this price, Yixing had not, and they had parted ways over it. The demands had been small at first, so small that Lu Han had agreed immediately, but the more power he gained, the more he had to give back.

“ _The crops produced only half their usual yield this year,_ ” read one line.

Another page mentioned that “rabbits were no longer enough.” Kyungsoo wrinkled his nose. Now that he was reading more closely, he was able to see that the tone changed as time went on; it was hard to pick up on at first, especially since Kyungsoo could only decipher tiny scraps at a time. There was nothing dramatic that leapt off the page, only a sense that Lu Han had become more and more dedicated to the pact the more power he got out of it. Any doubts or reservations Yixing had left him with soon fell by the wayside, replaced with a detached businesslike approach to the whole transaction, even as the price of the power grew steeper and steeper. Soon Kyungsoo was reading lists that read more like a grotesque merchant's ledger than anything else, the contents of which turned his stomach. The thing that horrified Kyungsoo the most, though, was how unconcerned Lu Han seemed to be by it all. It struck him that there was more of a price to be paid for dealing with the elves than just the items written down here.

When he got to the end of what was written, the pages ahead left blank for future writing, Kyungsoo stopped. This had brought them up to the present day, so any hint that Lu Han might be involved with King Siwon's illness would be written somewhere around here. When he flipped through the last few pages, the murmurs in his head grew almost to a shout, making him look around to make sure Junmyeon couldn't hear it as well. The passages that Kyungsoo could read spanned almost half the page now, as if the voice was helping him understand more, like there was something here it desperately wanted him to read. Kyungsoo turned a page and then everything fell into place.

" _What they give me is not enough,_ " Lu Han wrote, " _and there is nothing in this kingdom of value enough to give me what I need, except for the one thing I will not pay. I was at my wits' end until I remembered something I heard long ago. Until they gave me the ability, I was never as skilled in the Old Language as Yixing, so he would read to me from his books as we worked. I remembered one king, fated to shape the world with his deeds, and I have found him to be closer than I ever dared to dream. This is the price I will pay, this is what will grant me the power I need so desperately: I will give them the blood of the once and future king._ "

Kyungsoo's shocked fingers loosened their grip on the book just enough that a piece of torn parchment, tucked behind the covers, fell to the floor. It looked like a page torn from another book, only this one was written in a different hand and in the common language.

"Junmyeon, come here." Kyungsoo's voice sounded far away from his own ears.  
"What is it?"

Junmyeon emerged from the shelves to join him, and Kyungsoo handed over a page containing one spell: the very same one used on King Siwon. Doodled in the margin was the Pendragon emblem crossed out in thick black ink. While Junmyeon read through it, Kyungsoo thought quickly. He couldn't be sure that Junmyeon coming here wasn't all part of Lu Han's plan to begin with, but even if it was coincidence, it was clear now that Lu Han would do everything he could to ensure that Junmyeon was killed in this tournament, and he only had one more day to make that happen. Whether or not King Siwon was a target himself, or whether he was just collateral damage to get to Junmyeon, the page in Junmyeon's hands was enough to be sure that Lu Han was behind the mysterious illness. Junmyeon finished reading it, his face dark.

"It _was_ him," he said.

"Sure looks that way," Kyungsoo agreed.

"How do we lift the spell, then?"

"How should I know? I'm not-" Kyungsoo was about to say that he wasn't good enough to find and learn the counterspell before it was too late, but he caught himself in time.

"No, I know," Junmyeon shook his head. "You're not a sorcerer, you wouldn't know."

He shoved the paper back into Kyungsoo's hands, then stalked towards the door. Kyungsoo hurried to replace the page and put everything back in some semblance of its previous order before following, making sure to lock the door behind him. He caught up with Junmyeon at the top of the stairs, all but dragging him back towards Junmyeon's room.

"Let go of me!" Junmyeon angrily demanded.

"Why?" said Kyungsoo. "Where are you planning to go?"

"To find that bastard and give him what he deserves," Junmyeon growled.

"Are you crazy?" Kyungsoo tightened his grip on Junmyeon's arm. They couldn't afford to be overheard so he pulled Junmyeon through the bedroom door and shut it before continuing to talk. "What's going to stop him from killing you right then and there?" Kyungsoo knew it would be playing right into Lu Han's hands if Junmyeon simply showed up to be slaughtered. "If your father's a target, do you really think he'll have any problem killing you too?"

Junmyeon only paused for a moment. "I'll call him out in public. He can't do anything to me with everyone watching."

"No," said Kyungsoo, "but you'd have to explain how you knew about the spell and why you care at all to begin with. Announcing 'hey, I'm the crown prince of Camelot and I broke into your rooms on a hunch' sounds like a great way to get us kicked out with no cure." Junmyeon tried to protest, but Kyungsoo talked over him. "Do you remember the details of that spell?" he demanded. "Because I don't. If we get ourselves kicked out of the tournament, who else are we going to go to?"

Junmyeon stopped trying to pull away.

"What do we do, then?" he asked.

"You want to know what _I_ think we should do?" Kyungsoo's eyebrows went up. "I think we should stick to the plan. Win the tournament, and Lu Han will have to listen to our request, or risk being revealed."

"We'll still have to tell them we're from Camelot," Junmyeon pointed out.

"We don't have to say you're the prince, though," said Kyungsoo. "Tell them you're a knight whose love for his lord had made him desperate enough to come here for help. The king seems like a decent enough guy; maybe he'll stick up for you. Either way, it's our best shot."

Junmyeon still looked dubious, but he just sighed.

"How did a servant like you end up being the one with all the answers?" he asked.

"A servant like me?" Kyungsoo repeated.

"I mean, it has to be by mistake," Junmyeon went on. "Even a stopped clock is right twice a day, that sort of thing."

"Thanks," said Kyungsoo. "... I think." He took a step back, releasing Junmyeon's arm. "I think I should probably get to bed," he said. "It's late and you've got another full day tomorrow. I'll just be-"

Junmyeon stopped him. "Why don't you just stay here?" he asked.

"What?"

"Like you said, it's late. If anyone saw you wandering around, they'd wonder why you were still awake. Safer this way."

"You don't think it'll make people wonder if I'm seen coming out of your room in the morning?" Kyungsoo asked.

"There's going to be talk anyway, after... earlier." Junmyeon flushed and refused to meet Kyungsoo's eyes. "Might as well go all the way." Kyungsoo's face must have been surprised, because Junmyeon tripped over his own tongue in his haste to backtrack. "Not that I mean- us- just everyone already thinks-"

Kyungsoo held up a hand. "You know, I get it," he said wearily.

"So you'll stay here?" Junmyeon asked hopefully.

"Why not?" Kyungsoo looked around. "Where am I sleeping, though?"

Junmyeon threw him several pillows and dug out a couple blankets from the chest at the foot of the bed.

"Wherever you like," he said.

"What if I like the bed?"

"Wherever you like, _except_ the bed," amended Junmyeon.

Kyungsoo piled up the blankets on the floor until they reached a suitable thickness.

"A gentleman would let the lady take the bed," he grumbled.

"You're not a lady," Junmyeon reminded him. "No matter how nice you look in a dress."

Kyungsoo wasn't sure if he was amused or insulted. He settled down in his nest of blankets before saying, "You think I look nice in a dress?"

Junmyeon had just blown the last remaining candle out, so Kyungsoo could no longer see his face, but he could hear Junmyeon choke.

"Good night, Kyungsoo," was all he said.

Kyungsoo smiled into his pillow, and was asleep before he had time to wonder exactly what he was smiling about.

 

When Kyungsoo left for his own room the next morning, after changing back into his dress from the night before, winding the cloth back carefully around his head, he kept his eyes straight ahead with as dignified an expression as he could muster. Even so, out of the corner of his eye he caught more than one knowing grin and nudge from people watching, clearly noticing his recycled outfit, which made his blood boil. Nosy, interfering busybodies needed to keep their opinions to themselves, he thought viciously. It was none of their business and Kyungsoo was well within his rights to sleep wherever he wanted without having to deal with people staring at him like a zoo attraction.

_I hope they all fall off their horses and twist their ankles,_ thought Kyungsoo, twisting one of the laces on today's dress as if it were the offending limb. _I hope they end up with some horribly embarrassing injury so that everyone stares at_ them _._

He gulped down the last of the potion in his flask. He wondered if he shouldn't have made more, but it was too late now anyway. He would just have to trust that it would last the day. One more variable that could ruin everything if given half the chance, he thought. By the time Kyungsoo left the room again his bad mood had extended to include Junmyeon as well, meaning that he didn't say a word to the confused prince the entire walk down to the tournament grounds. He felt like there were almost visible black clouds over his head. Junmyeon looked like he wanted to ask what was wrong, but one glowering look from Kyungsoo kept his mouth sealed. The moment they got to the tent, however, Kyungsoo regretted not saying anything before then, since they realized with surprise and some alarm that they were not alone. A young man dressed as a squire stood just inside the tent flap, and he greeted them both respectfully.

"Thank you," said Junmyeon, sharing a glance with Kyungsoo, "but I didn't ask for any more help."

"With all respect, my master, Lu Han, sent me to relieve the lady," said the squire. "He wanted me to express to you his regret that he had not thought sooner to offer this service to a newly-come and respected guest to our city. He hopes to ensure that Lady Do is able to rest comfortably with the other nobles, where she will have an excellent and unhindered view of your no doubt continued success today."

As he spoke, Kyungsoo watched his face carefully for any sign that he intended any harm or mischief, but it was perfectly blank, like he was simply reciting a rehearsed message. Still, Kyungsoo wanted Junmyeon to send him away and was dismayed when, instead of sending him packing, Junmyeon nodded slowly in agreement.

"I appreciate his thoughtfulness," said Junmyeon. "Give me one moment and I will be right with you to prepare."

He took Kyungsoo aside, cutting off all his protests quickly.

"Look, we can't refuse or Lu Han will know something's up," said Junmyeon. "He might cause a scene that will ruin our entire plan. You said it yourself; we're in a precarious situation. We can't risk blowing it all before we even win."

"If Lu Han sent him, he's got to be up to something," argued Kyungsoo. "You can't let him stay."

"Well, I can't get rid of him either," said Junmyeon. He shushed Kyungsoo in the middle of his protest. "It'll be fine," he said. "He probably just wants to keep us from having time to plan, but we already know what the plan is. Just let me win this, and we'll be on our way home in no time."

Kyungsoo had more to say, but Junmyeon stepped back into his courtly knight persona, putting some distance between them and raising Kyungsoo's hand to his lips with a bow, which shut Kyungsoo up more thoroughly than anything he had said yet.

"Sit where I can see you," Junmyeon said with a smile. "That way I can look up whenever I need encouragement."

It was a flowery, ridiculous line and it shouldn't have worked on Kyungsoo as well as it did. He had no choice but to leave Junmyeon there and make his way to the stands, to a seat kept empty for him, and was even more displeased to find that the seat was uncomfortably close to the royal canopy where Lu Han was already sitting next to King Minseok, who seemed to be completely recovered from the ill effects of Kyungsoo's herb smoke. Kyungsoo thought that Lu Han looked unbearably smug already, his expression only filling Kyungsoo with dread. There was less fanfare to signal the beginning of the second day, the first match starting within minutes of Kyungsoo taking his seat, and all the while Kyungsoo made a point of not looking at Lu Han, instead searching the field for Junmyeon's appearance.

 

When he finally took the field, the crowd went wild. His performance the day before ensured that everyone, no matter who they were rooting for or where their bets lay, was looking to him for a spectacular show, and he did not disappoint. When he came around to the side of the stands afterwards, he was showered in the flowers the crowd kept to throw to their favorites, but Junmyeon only looked at Kyungsoo. He blew a kiss that had the assembled ladies oohing and aahing in appreciation and delight. Kyungsoo wished he wouldn't because it meant that everyone in the surrounding area was looking at him now. No matter what Junmyeon did, the one thought that nagged at Kyungsoo was that every single bit of it—the hand-holding, the shows of courtly affection, the gallantry—was all for the sake of their disguise. Kyungsoo didn't know why the fakeness of it all should bother him, but it did. Or rather, he had an inkling of why that should be, only he refused to spend enough time thinking about it to come to a conscious realization. He dismissed it instead. The memory of the enchanted dress from the night before tugged at his thoughts, demanding attention, suggesting that there was nothing all that special about Kyungsoo to begin with that didn't stem somehow from his magic, the magic around him, or the peculiar situation they had been cast into. Kyungsoo dismissed that too. It was only because he knew what Junmyeon was really like, he decided. The perfect prince act annoyed him because only he knew that Junmyeon was thoughtless and lazy, the kind of guy who dropped his shed belongings behind him as he walked, secure in the knowledge that it was Someone Else's Problem, and who liked to tell Kyungsoo to wake him up early for an important meeting and then spend fifteen minutes groggily blaming him for the fact that the meeting was so early. Nevermind that there was something nice about being the only one to see that side of him; Kyungsoo was still annoyed to be part of such a blatantly false performance, and that was that.

The following match, one between two contestants Kyungsoo had never heard of and whom he had only caught sight of at the nightly banquets, was nowhere near as interesting, and it took Kyungsoo until Junmyeon's second bout to realize that there was something wrong. The first thing he noticed was that Junmyeon's lance seemed less steady than before. It took him the full three tries to unhorse his opponent, when it had never taken him more than two before. He won the match, but Kyungsoo thought it was more of a struggle for him than the other man’s skill would normally warrant. By the third time Junmyeon took the field, it was clear that something was very wrong. Even the rest of the audience noticed, a fact which became apparent when Kyungsoo heard a woman behind turn to her husband to ask “if Sir Suho was feeling quite well." When Kyungsoo risked a glance over at Lu Han, he saw the magician leaning forward with anticipation, a small smile playing on his lips. That was more than enough to convince Kyungsoo that this was no ordinary difficulty Junmyeon had hit, and he tried not to listen to any more of the conversation going on around him or even the fight down below in the arena, instead concentrating hard on Junmyeon himself. There was something there, he knew, some clue to be had, if only he could see it. Junmyeon was on his feet at this point, once again caught in the middle of the hand-to-hand portion of a fight, and when he turned to parry that was when Kyungsoo saw it—a silvery shimmer around the creases of his chainmail and the plates of his armor. It was similar to the one he had seen on the silks and the dress, which was how he was able to immediately identify it as magic. Someone had put a spell of some sort on Junmyeon's armor, and Kyungsoo knew exactly who it was and what they were hoping to do. It explained Lu Han's look of expectation as well as making it quite clear that they were in a dire situation. Lu Han's magic was more subtle than any Kyungsoo had seen yet, which is why it had taken him so long to spot it. Before, Kyungsoo might have thought that more powerful magic would be more ostentatious, but the entire mission thus far had proved to him how much more skill it took to cast an unseen spell than an eye-catching one. He thought that, considering his lack of training, his own spells must still be painfully apparent to anyone who knew how to look for them.

The longer he watched, the more apparent it became that the spell was slowing down Junmyeon's movements, each swing coming later and later, his sword barely coming up in time to block the blows. He was tiring faster than he usually did too, like his limbs were heavy and every action took a momentous effort. Even hindered like this, Junmyeon was winning, but Kyungsoo didn't know how much longer he could last. Certainly not until the final match, judging from the rate at which he was flagging. There was nothing to indicate what sort of spell it might be, so Kyungsoo watched the armor move for several minutes, waiting to see if it would trigger any sort of reaction from his innate magical senses. The voice in his head—the one that had urged him towards Camelot to begin with and that had amplified his understanding of the Old Language the night, allowing him to uncover the plot on Junmyeon’s life—that same voice was like a rushing wind in his ears now that Junmyeon was once again in danger. There was something about the armor itself, like it was moving against Junmyeon, pulling his limbs in the opposite direction and making him strain to move, that made Kyungsoo wonder if it might be at least half-animated to work against him. The voice murmured in what sounded like a vaguely affirmative manner. The armor clearly wasn't as lifelike as the clothes and broom Kyungsoo had enchanted, but he tried the same counterspell on it anyway. He wasn't particularly surprised when it didn't work. He winced a moment later when Junmyeon blocked a split-second too late and took a glancing blow to the shoulder. This couldn't keep going on, Kyungsoo decided. Forget the tournament... if he didn't find at way to stop this spell soon, Junmyeon would not survive the day. He had been brought to Camelot to protect Junmyeon and that was exactly what every fiber of his being was screaming out for him to do.

Kyungsoo stood up. As he started edging along the row towards the exit, he saw Lu Han turn to look at him curiously. Kyungsoo brought his hand up to his mouth like he was about to be sick. He made sure to stumble slightly, apologizing to the people as he passed.

"I'm just a little light-headed," he said. "A little dizzy..."

He doubted it would really fool Lu Han, but at this point that didn't really matter anymore. He only needed to get out and find a way to break this spell so that Junmyeon could win the tournament as planned and, with any luck, they could both escape with their skins. Behind him, he could hear Junmyeon's victory announced. When he reached the outskirts of the crowd, he broke into a run back towards the castle. There was very little time left now, and if Kyungsoo remembered the lineup correctly then the next match Junmyeon would be fighting in was the final. It would be Lu Han's last chance to kill him and make it look like an accident, which meant that everything hung on it.

 

On his way back to the castle Kyungsoo barely encountered a single person, which suited him just fine. Everyone who could be spared from their usual work was down at the field to watch the tournament, so Kyungsoo was able to break into a run without worrying too much about being seen. He flung open the door to his room, dragged his bag out from under the bed, and upended the contents all over the mattress, digging through them to find the spellbook. If the one counterspell he knew wouldn't work, he would just have to find another one that _would_. He flipped pages as quickly as he could, spending just enough time on each one to glance over its contents for anything that might help. Within minutes he stopped, laying the book flat, open to one spell that looked particularly promising. "To Stop Another's Malicious Intent" it read, so Kyungsoo read over the spell's conditions carefully. It was exactly what he needed. There was one stipulation though that might cause problems—he needed to have a clear line of sight to the target spell and, if at all possible, the original caster. If he returned to his seat in the stands he could get a clear view of either Junmyeon or Lu Han, but would have difficulty keeping both in sight and it would leave him using magic out in the open for everyone to see. While magic was accepted here, it would mean that he would be exposed to the two people he absolutely did not want to reveal himself to, and it was always possible that it would look like he was helping Junmyeon to magically cheat. The other option, and the one that would give him the clearest view, would be to get into the tent where Junmyeon had prepared. If he could get rid of the squire that Lu Han had provided, then he would be free to cast the counterspell in peace. Kyungsoo shoved the book back down into the bottom of his bag and piled everything else in on top of it before racing back down the halls.

He was so intent if getting back to the tournament grounds, that when he rounded the corner leading to the line of tents, he ran straight into someone. His skirts tangled around his legs, sending both of them toppling to the ground in a painful heap.

"I'm so sorry!" Kyungsoo apologized immediately, then realized exactly who was blinking back at him. "Soojung!"

"Interesting," she said. "That's a very powerful voice altering spell you've cast there."

"It's a potion," he said, helping her to her feet.

"Well, it would be," she said. "It's very strong though. The energy you put into the final sealing spell must have given it quite the kick. Wouldn't you say, Jinri?"

Jinri, who was standing off to one side and who had managed to avoid being bowled over by Kyungsoo's headlong rush, nodded.

"It's fairly obvious if you know what to look for," she agreed.

Kyungsoo was dismayed. "So there's a good chance Lu Han was able to tell?" he asked.

"If he was paying any attention, then I would say so," said Soojung. "Why? Do you think he has special reason to pay attention to you?"

"Well, considering that he's currently trying to kill Junmyeon to pay for the magical power he's getting from the elves, I would say so, yeah," Kyungsoo said.

Jinri frowned. "He's getting power from _where_?" she asked.

"From the elves," said Soojung. She was looking at Kyungsoo intently. "You're sure about this?"

"I found his journal and all his notes," said Kyungsoo. "It's been going on for a while now. Maybe five years or so? He's gotten in deep enough that to keep it up he has to give them something really valuable now."

"Which would be your prince?" asked Jinri.

"He has a remarkable destiny," said Soojung. "His blood would pay for an unimaginable amount of power." She looked Kyungsoo dead in the eye. "What do you need us to do?"

"Junmyeon's armor is bewitched to slow him down and exhaust him," Kyungsoo explained. "I have the counterspell, but Lu Han sent a squire of his own to wait on Junmyeon today and I'm sure he'd try to stop me before I could get close enough to cast it."

"So you need us to get rid of him?" Jinri looked at Soojung. "We can do that."

" _Thank you_ ," sighed Kyungsoo. "We have to hurry, though. Has the final match started yet?"

"It's just beginning now," said Soojung. "You need to break the spell as soon as possible if you're going to win. Which tent is it?"

Kyungsoo pointed it out. Soojung immediately strode off in that direction, flinging open the tent flap as Jinri hurried to follow her.

"Soojung, wait!"

"Madam, I'm afraid I can't allow you in here."

Kyungsoo could hear the squire trying to get rid of Soojung as quickly as possible and he could hear her voice rising in volume, shrill and insistent. From what Kyungsoo could hear, she seemed to be making no sense whatsoever and Kyungsoo laughed at how confused the squire sounded.

"I don't have time to help you right now," he was saying. "You need to leave now, or I'll have to call the guards."

"Oh, really?" Jinri now entered the scene. "You'll have the guards do what, exactly? Throw her out on her face because she makes you uncomfortable? You're as bad as the rest of them!"

All three of them emerged from the tent, the squire trying to shoo them away back into the crowd, while Jinri was having none of this. She pulled several passersby in to attest to the unfair and cruel treatment she and Soojung were being subjected to, eventually attracting the attention of more than one guard as well. If the squire thought that this would put an end to the scene, he was sorely mistaken, because Jinri managed to wind the situation into an impossible tangle of a problem. All the while Soojung was raving on, the very picture of a disturbed Seer, and within minutes a sizable crowd had gathered to see what the disturbance was. With all the commotion, Kyungsoo was able to sneak into the tent, trusting that the two girls would keep the area clear for as long as he needed to ensure Junmyeon's safety.

 

When he peeked out from behind the tent flap into the arena, he could see that the final match had been paused while they tried to figure out where all the noise outside was coming from, and not a moment too soon. Both of the contestants were breathing heavily, but Junmyeon was down on one knee, a hand braced against the ground as he bent almost double. As Kyungsoo watched, a trickle of blood dripped from the arm Junmyeon held clutched to his chest, the drops sinking one by one into the dry dirt of the arena floor. From where he stood Kyungsoo couldn't tell how badly he was hurt, but the spell had drained his energy enough that he was barely able to keep upright. The noise from outside was dying down, so Kyungsoo took a deep breath, turned his head so that he could see both Junmyeon and Lu Han, and said the words.

" _Beswice fram þære ælfsidenne; ábric þæt galdorléoð min wiðerwinnan._ "**

Kyungsoo felt the power flash behind his eyes, and he waited for Junmyeon to stand. Nothing happened. He tried once again. This time he could see Lu Han look around, clearly able to sense Kyungsoo's magic nearby, so Kyungsoo concentrated all his attention and cast the counterspell one more time. He could feel it take this time, the enchantment Lu Han had cast on the armor melting away like snow under his own magic. The effect was immediate too, Junmyeon's shoulders straightening right away as if a great weight had been lifted. The tournament officials were calling for the match to start again, and one of them came up to Junmyeon, clearly asking him if he was alright to continue. Junmyeon got to his feet and nodded, so everyone took their positions once more. Kyungsoo could see a glittering flash coming from the stands, centered around Lu Han. He had seen that his enchantment was broken and was trying either to recast the spell or to target Junmyeon with something else.

" _Scield!_ "*** Kyungsoo threw up a magical barrier almost without thinking, and Lu Han's spell bounced harmlessly off of it.

As the final match began again, a magical contest began over them in earnest between the two magicians, invisible to everyone else. Every time Lu Han threw another spell, Kyungsoo deflected it immediately. He was surprised when he saw that Lu Han was in no danger of overpowering him, even with the skills he had been given, and for the first time Kyungsoo had an inkling of what everyone had said about his powers. He had never thought of them as anything special, and yet here he was, fending off what were clearly powerful attacks from an experienced sorcerer with supernatural help. When he spared a glance for the ongoing tournament, he could see that while Junmyeon still favored his injured arm, he was moving faster and with more precision than he had all day, quickly gaining the upper hand over his opponent.

The crowd was going wild over what appeared to be a miraculous recovery, meaning that none of them saw Lu Han's face twisted with concentration, his knuckles white on the arms of his chair. King Minseok looked over once and Kyungsoo saw him ask Lu Han if he was alright, which broke Lu Han's concentration long enough for Kyungsoo to block a particularly nasty-looking spell. Lu Han smiled weakly and reassured the king before once again turning his attention to Junmyeon and the barrier Kyungsoo was maintaining around him. The next spell he threw was sharp enough to make Kyungsoo wince when it hit, and he felt his own magic coil and lash out in retaliation. Without dropping the protection over Junmyeon, he saw himself shoot a spear-like spike of power towards Lu Han that the sorcerer saw a moment too late. Kyungsoo could see him start to throw up his own shield, but the spell hit before it was fully shaped. Lu Han jerked backwards in his seat, one hand coming up to clutch his head. He swayed for a second, dizzy, and in that one moment Kyungsoo saw Junmyeon's sword sweep around in a perfect arc of silver. His opponent fell to one knee, his sword clattering to the ground more than ten feet away. Junmyeon held the point of his sword to the other knight's throat and the entire crowd fell silent, every breath held.

"Do you yield?" Kyungsoo heard Junmyeon ask.

There was another moment of breathless silence. Then the disarmed knight spread his arms wide.

"I yield," he said, and the cheer from assembled audience hit Kyungsoo like a wall of sound.

As soon as he heard the surrender, Junmyeon dropped his sword to clutch at his wounded arm. King Minseok stood and called a halt to the proceedings, ordering medics to meet Junmyeon in his tent before the formal end to the tournament and the announcement of the victor. Lu Han remained slumped in his seat, his face carefully blank, but Kyungsoo only had a moment to see this because then he had to back away and prepare for the whirlwind of activity that was about to descend on the tent.

As soon as he entered, Junmyeon was met by several servants bearing towels, bandages, buckets of water, and Kyungsoo had no clue what else. Kyungsoo was about to draw back into the corner, but Junmyeon caught sight of him and, even as exhausted and bloodied as he was, the way his face lit up rooted Kyungsoo to the spot.

“I thought I told you to sit where I could see you,” Junmyeon said. “Last match was a little close… I was too busy trying to see where you’d gone.”

Kyungsoo didn’t know if he wanted to laugh, cry, or throttle him for making such a terrible joke. He settled for taking a water basin from one of the nearby servants and starting to clean off Junmyeon’s injured arm. By the time they were ready to bandage it, however, the situation had had enough time to fully sink into Kyungsoo’s brain and the fatigue from Lu Han’s onslaughts had finally washed over him, the combination making his hands shake so badly that the attendants had to shoo him aside and take over the rest of the job themselves. It was so hard to believe that the tournament was already over and that they had won. Kyungsoo just kept waiting for the next hurdle he had to leap, the next obstacle to clear, the feeling so overwhelming that he had a hard time making himself believe now that _they had done it_. All that was left to do was to ask for their prize, which would be hard enough to explain, but it was still a matter of spinning it with the right words, something that Junmyeon had definitely proved himself capable of. Kyungsoo had done everything he needed to do, all the worry and action and bustle behind the scenes that, with any luck, no one would ever see or know about, and it was time for him to fade out into the background again.

As usual, Junmyeon didn’t follow the plan. The instant the medics and all their assistants were satisfied that he was properly tidied and bandaged, Junmyeon shook off the cluster of people still left around him, crossing the small tent to where Kyungsoo was watching alone. Kyungsoo still couldn’t manage to make his hands stop shaking, so when Junmyeon took both of them in his own, he tried to pull away. He knew enough about Junmyeon’s insistence on things going his way that he wasn’t surprised when Junmyeon held them fast, but what he _wasn’t_ expecting was for Junmyeon to use this to tug him in closer and press a kiss to his lips and then another to the corner of his mouth before he finally let Kyungsoo take a step back.

“That’s not-” Kyungsoo was flustered and more than a little confused. He looked over at the palace attendants. The ones who were left were too busy packing up all of their equipment to pay any attention to the two of them. “No one’s watching,” he said. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know,” said Junmyeon. “But I wanted to.”

Kyungsoo looked down quickly, frowning at his dress as he searched for any telltale glimmer of magic to it. He didn’t _think_ he had worn anything enchanted today, but now he was terrified he hadn’t paid close enough attention. If he was affecting Junmyeon in any way through some enchantment, he knew he had to put a stop to it immediately. Whatever it was needed as much time as possible to wear off before they returned to Camelot, where any trace of magic would not be tolerated. No matter how closely he looked, though, he couldn’t see anything different about the cloth of this dress than that of any other. The gold thread woven through it caught the light the way rich fabric tended to, but it lacked any hint of a more subtle power.

“What’s wrong _now_?” Junmyeon asked, sounding both exasperated and a little fond. It was the way he always seemed to talk to Kyungsoo now.

Kyungsoo looked at Junmyeon, at the thick bandages on his arm which didn't quite hide the bloodstains on his sleeve, at the weary but triumphant set to his shoulders, and he thought about how close he had come to having this snatched away. When Kyungsoo kissed him again, it wasn't the disguise that urged his lips forward, and it wasn't his destiny that made him tangle his fingers in Junmyeon's sweaty hair, pulling them together for endless moments. Junmyeon was his prince, his king, his duty, but more than that he was just _Junmyeon_. He made a mess wherever he went and left Kyungsoo to clean up after him, he was full of himself and a complete pain in the ass, and half the time Kyungsoo thought he would be glad to do Lu Han a favor and kill him himself, and yet… There was something so stupidly endearing about him that Kyungsoo knew he would feel a nagging void there if Junmyeon were ever to disappear from his life.

Junmyeon was staring at him now. “I was actually more expecting you to kick me in the leg,” he said.

“I could still do that, if you like,” said Kyungsoo, feeling a little bit foolish.

“No, that’s alright,” said Junmyeon quickly. “I’m already down one limb, you know. You kick hard.”

He reached out to take Kyungsoo’s hand. Kyungsoo looked down at the sight of their two hand together for a moment, then laced their fingers together. Junmyeon smiled.

“Come on,” he said. “We’ve got a prize to claim.”

 

When they emerged out on the field again, it took King Minseok several minutes to calm the crowd down enough that he could be heard, since they were all shouting and cheering for Junmyeon’s victory. Lu Han’s mouth remained obstinately shut, and Kyungsoo couldn’t resist smiling sweetly up into the stands at him, almost laughing out loud when Lu Han looked like he’d swallowed an entire lemon. They were presented with the victor’s garland, which Kyungsoo placed on Junmyeon’s head in the place of whatever official usually had that task, and when Junmyeon bent to kiss his hand deliberately in full sight of the entire arena, Kyungsoo really did kick him in the leg. _Subtly_ , though. King Minseok called for silence once more, waiting until the residual cries had died away before standing before his seat to address Junmyeon and Kyungsoo.

“You have proven yourself the most capable warrior present,” said Minseok. “For the last two days, you have have competed against the greatest knights in the kingdom, and you have now emerged victorious. The reward for this, as promised, is any one request you wish to present to us. If it is within reason and our power, we will strive to fulfill it. What do you request?”

Junmyeon bowed. “First, I would like to thank the city, the palace, and the royal court for the welcome we have received here. Second, I would like to apologize for what might be taken for a serious deception, though I assure you, it was only undertaken at the greatest need.”

The crowd started to mutter amongst themselves. Even Lu Han looked intrigued, waiting to hear what explanation Junmyeon would come up with. Kyungsoo held his breath, and his hand sought out Junmyeon’s to give it a reassuring squeeze when King Minseok frowned.

“What do you mean?” the king asked.

Junmyeon took a deep breath before answering, squeezing Kyungsoo’s hand back.

“I have not revealed my homeland to you,” he said, “nor my ruling lord, since I was afraid to be turned away. In truth, I am a knight come here from Camelot, and I am here without my king’s knowledge to beg for your help.”

The murmuring from the crowd grew louder and Lu Han looked more excited than he had been since Kyungsoo first broke his enchantment. Minseok had yet to say anything, so Junmyeon ignored all the others, pressing on over the growing unrest.

“I know that our kingdoms have not been overly friendly in recent years,” he said. “I also know that my presence here would not normally be smiled on by either your court or my own king, but the stories of your advisor, Lu Han’s, skill in healing magic has traveled even to Camelot. King Siwon is gravely ill, and I fear for his life. He would have forbidden me to come if he knew, but our own physicians are unable to cure him and I am here to plead for your assistance in healing him. Since coming here I have heard of the loss your kingdom suffered only a year ago, and I would do anything to spare my own land that same sorrow. My request is that Lu Han will use his powers of healing to save the life of my king.”

It said something about either Junmyeon’s eloquence or how he had won over the hearts of the crowd and assembled nobles that they seemed more sympathetic than anything else. There were even a few cries for the king to grant his request before Minseok came to a decision.

“Considering the recent history between our kingdoms,” he said, “I would normally look on the presence of an outsider from a place as Camelot as an intrusion. In this case, though, I cannot help but be understanding of the motives that brought you here. You reminded us all of the terrible loss we endured so recently, and I cannot help but think that at this, the tournament meant to bring an end to our mourning, it is somehow fitting that we do whatever we can to save others from experiencing the same.”

Kyungsoo’s heart leapt when he heard this. He looked over at Junmyeon, who clearly felt the same way. Meanwhile Lu Han was staring at Minseok as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“I will honor our victor’s request,” said King Minseok to the assembled audience. “I have every confidence that by the time you leave the city, Lu Han will have already found the cure you desire. In the meantime, to mark the end of the festivities there will be one final banquet tonight, honoring not only our champion, but all those who competed.”

There were a few more technical details to finish up the tournament, some official business to be taken care of, but all Kyungsoo could see was the huge smile on Junmyeon’s face and all he could feel was the proud triumph that threatened to overflow and bubble over whenever he saw the garland on Junmyeon’s head.

“Hey,” he said to Junmyeon. “We won.”

“We did,” Junmyeon agreed. “I had my doubts that your crazy plan would actually fly, but it looks like everything worked out after all.”

“I don’t think Lu Han’s too happy about it” said Kyungsoo. They watched the court magician leave in Minseok’s wake. Kyungsoo thought he could see him grinding his teeth in silent fury. “I don’t think he’s likely to give up after this.”

“We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it,” Junmyeon shrugged. “It can wait until after dinner at least.”

“I… don’t think that’s how the saying goes,” said Kyungsoo.

“It can wait until after dinner,” repeated Junmyeon firmly. “I almost lost an arm today. I’m starving.”

He offered Kyungsoo an arm—his good arm—and the two of them joined the stream of people headed towards the promise of food.

 

If Kyungsoo thought the other nobles would stay far away from the two of them, now that their origin had been revealed, he was in for a surprise. Junmyeon could hardly get a bite of food in his mouth, so busy was he with the endless parade of people coming up to him to congratulate him on his victory, to ask about his arm, and to tell him how brave they all thought he was for coming here in the first place. Happily, Lu Han stayed far away, not so much as glancing at them the entire evening long. Junmyeon gave Kyungsoo an incredulous smile when Kyungsoo finally spoke up, shooing everyone else away so that he could have a few minutes to rest and eat something. He put his foot down quite emphatically on the topic, something that Junmyeon apparently found hilarious.

“Nice to see you bossing other people around for once,” he said. “I’ve had to put up with it for days now.”

“Well, now you know what it’s like,” said Kyungsoo. “I’ve had to put up with _you_ for a lot longer.”

Junmyeon considered this. “Not all _that_ much longer,” he said. “You’d been around for, what? A week before we left? Plus travel time and all the time we’ve spent here… maybe two weeks?”

“More than enough time to get my fill of you,” said Kyungsoo, but without much rancor behind his words. “Two weeks might as well be a lifetime.”

“Ah, good,” Junmyeon drained his cup and held it out for a refill. “Then I’m sure it won’t take you too much time to readjust to life as my servant once we get back. I’m pretty sure the stables will need a thorough mucking out by the time we get back, you know.”

“The worst part is I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.”

“Clearly _haven’t_ spent enough time around me then.”

Kyungsoo refilled both cups with wine. “No, but really,” he said.

Junmyeon just laughed.

They actually stayed until the end of the feast this time, the first time in their entire stay thus far, which meant that Kyungsoo was able to eat himself sick on all sorts of rich foods, ignoring Junmyeon’s good-humored mocking the entire time. They parted ways as usual after they left the hall, heading back to their own rooms, and Kyungsoo prepared himself to spend one last night in a skirt. With any luck, they would be out of the palace by the end of the morning and headed back to Soojung and Jinri’s house, where he could shed his disguise for good.

 

It took him a little while to get to sleep since he kept tossing and turning, the sheets winding themselves uncomfortably around his legs. He thought that maybe Junmyeon had been right about him eating too much food, but eventually he drifted off into a sleep full of fragmented dreams, none of which made sense or would stick in his head for more than a moment. Some time in the wee hours of the morning, he jolted awake, the shout that had just sounded in his head trickling down his spine like liquid lightning, jerking his limbs out of bed. Kyungsoo stumbled on his way to the door when he stubbed his toe against some piece of furniture hidden in the dark, but if he made any noise of pain at all, he couldn’t hear it.

“Danger!” screamed the voice into every corner of his mind. “Junmyeon in danger!”

He didn’t remember anything about his blind flight through the dark hallways, only able to recall later that when he flung open the door with a burst of unconscious magic, there was a figure silhouetted black against the window and the faint lights from the town below. It stood over Junmyeon’s bed with a long, cruel knife poised to slit the prince’s throat. Kyungsoo only saw gold when his eyes flashed. He let out a wordless cry, bringing up both hands before him and flinging the would-be assassin backwards against the wall. Junmyeon had startled awake at the bang of the door and the sound of Kyungsoo's voice, which meant that he was now looking around blearily, blinking up at Kyungsoo's face when he ran to the bedside to check for any injuries.

"Kyungsoo, wha-?"

"Are you alright?" Kyungsoo demanded.

For a moment he thought the potion was still in effect, but then he realized it was just the panic in his voice. The electric energy that had galvanized him into motion still sang in his veins with a painful thrum. Junmyeon was unhurt though, which meant that he had gotten there in time. That was all that mattered.

"Kyungsoo, look out!"

Junmyeon shoved him to the side before throwing himself out of bed at something behind him. As he moved, his hand grabbed the sword hilt resting against a nearby chair, drawing the blade with one smooth motion. It was over in a moment. The assassin, who had by that time shrugged off Kyungsoo's attack, had retrieved his knife and had been about to sink it into Kyungsoo's back when Junmyeon had driven him back, hand around his throat, and driven the sword straight through his stomach. The black-robed figure dropped to the ground with a hideous groan, and Kyungsoo clapped his hands over his ears when he realized that the man was still alive. Junmyeon silenced him with one more blow before turning to Kyungsoo, prying his hands from his face and soothing them by rubbing small circles into Kyungsoo's palms.

"It's alright," he said. "It's alright, he's dead now."

"I know that," said Kyungsoo's jerking his hands away. "I just didn't expect killing someone to be so noisy."

"You've never seen someone killed before?" asked Junmyeon, and when Kyungsoo shook his head the expression on his face was something Kyungsoo never wanted to see again. "You're lucky then."

He set Kyungsoo to pulling any of the bedclothes that had gotten blood spattered in them off the bed and into one pile on the floor while he searched the body.

"Never seen him before," said Junmyeon. "You?"

Kyungsoo glanced quickly over. "No," he said. "But I bet I know who sent him."

"Hmm," said Junmyeon. "Three guesses, first two don't count? My guess is he's working for Lu Han."

"That's where I'd put my money," Kyungsoo agreed. He handed Junmyeon the wad of stained cloth, wrinkling his nose when Junmyeon started to wrap the body in them. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to keep him from bleeding all over the place," explained Junmyeon. "I can't tell how much of a mess it's already made, but if there's a huge puddle of blood on the floor in the morning you can bet people will have questions."

He wanted to stash the dead man in the wooden chest in the corner, but Kyungsoo manged to convince him not to make more work for the servants later. While Junmyeon carried the body out as quietly as possible, Kyungsoo conjured a light to hover in the air while he magically scoured the floor clean of all bloodstains. By the time Junmyeon got back, everything was cleaned up and Kyungsoo had even found clean linens with which to remake the bed.

"I knew there was a reason I kept you around," said Junmyeon.

"I thought it was because I looked good in a dress," said Kyungsoo.

Junmyeon laughed shortly. "That too."

By the time he washed his hands and changed his shirt, shoving the now-dirty one under a stack of worn clothes that Kyungsoo would have to pack for him in the morning, his face had gone slightly gray, even in the faint light from the few candles Kyungsoo had found.

"Are you really alright?" asked Kyungsoo, concerned.

"Never gets any easier," said Junmyeon shakily. "Don't let anyone tell you it does."

"Well, good," said Kyungsoo, trying to keep his voice light, "Because if you think I'm going to clean up this kind of mess at home, you can find yourself a new assistant."

Junmyeon scoffed at that. "What kind of an idiot turns his back on an attacker before making sure the threat is gone, anyway? I'm not sure I want such an incompetent servant waiting on me." He climbed back into bed before blowing out the candle nearest to him. "You want to turn out the light?" he said. "It's some obscene hour of the morning and I want to sleep."

"Oh," said Kyungsoo. "Right."

He blew out the candle he was holding, plunging the room into darkness. He was about to turn and leave when he heard Junmyeon's voice again.

"Shut the damn door, will you?" Junmyeon complained. "And grab a spare pillow if you're going to stay here, because I'm not sharing. You're clearly incapable of protecting yourself."

"Who saved whose life first?" asked Kyungsoo, but he grabbed a nearby pillow anyway, crossing the floor to stand next to the bed. "You're not going to make me sleep on the floor again?"

"Wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me to make the lady sleep on the floor, would it?" said Junmyeon. When Kyungsoo climbed carefully into the bed, he kept his back turned, but he fumbled around for a while until he found Kyungsoo's hand, holding it tight. "If you snore," he said affectionately, "I'll shove you off the edge."

"Noted," said Kyungsoo.

There was a long silence, filled with nothing but the soft sound of their breaths evening out while the heavy darkness pressed their eyelids closed. Just before Kyungsoo fell asleep again, he heard a whisper from Junmyeon.

"Thanks."

"Good night," Kyungsoo mumbled, and then they were both asleep.

 

When Kyungsoo woke up the next morning he soon discovered that not only did Junmyeon move around a fair amount in this sleep, he also had a tendency to seek out the closest heat source and latch onto it. Kyungsoo extricated himself carefully from a pile of snoring prince and by the time Junmyeon had finally woken up, Kyungsoo had packed up all of his clothes and all of the other belongings he had left scattered across the borrowed room, folding them and filling his bag back up for their journey home. After Kyungsoo had made sure that Junmyeon was fully awake and getting ready, he left to change his own clothes, since he was still in the nightgown that Jinri had thoughtfully provided him. At this hour there were enough people up and about that Kyungsoo had to listen to clearly audible whispers joking that the magician’s help wasn’t the _only_ prize Junmyeon had gotten last night, but he was able to ignore them far more easily than before, knowing now that he was likely never to see a single one of them again.

He was just finished changing when Junmyeon came to join him, saying that he had received word that Lu Han had found and was working on a magical cure even as they spoke.

“That’s great news!” said Kyungsoo, returning Junmyeon’s dazed happy smile. “We should stop by Soojung and Jinri’s house on our way out of town. Soojung might have Seen something and she might be able to tell us if the cure has started to take effect or not.”

He could see that Junmyeon was trying hard not to pull a face. “Do we really have time to stop?” he asked. “I want to be on the road as soon as possible.”

“Yes, we have time to stop,” said Kyungsoo in exasperation. “It’s a few minutes to get some valuable information and find out _before we leave the city_ if Lu Han is really holding up his end of the promise. And it’ll give me a chance to change back into pants too.”

Junmyeon grudgingly gave in, but since the king and what seemed like the entire court (sans Lu Han) turned out to see the champion off, they had to make a big deal of riding out of the city, all the way around a bend in the road so that a hill hid them from sight, before they doubled back and managed to sneak their way back to the city’s outskirts through another entrance. Soojung was waiting for them at her doorstep, waving them quickly into the house before anyone could catch sight of them.

“I had a feeling you might be coming back here,” she said. “I think every person in the city and most of the surrounding area knows what you asked the king for. It’s all they can talk about—the knight who disobeyed his lord and rode into hostile land to save his life.”

“He didn’t actually _forbid_ me,” said Junmyeon, just as Kyungsoo said, “I wouldn’t exactly say _hostile_.”

Soojung laughed at the looks they gave each other. “No,” she said, “But what’s important is what will make a good story. I can tell you this now, though. No matter what his original intentions, with our king now so invested in your tale, Lu Han has had no choice but to heal your father. At this very moment he should be getting out of bed. By the time you get back, I’m sure he will have many many questions for you”

“Yixing will come up with some story to tell him, I’m sure,” said Junmyeon.

Kyungsoo nodded. He had no doubt that the physician back home would do everything he could to hide their magical intervention from King Siwon. Just then, Jinri came in and the first thing she did was to take one look at Kyungsoo and burst out laughing.

“You’ve made a mess of that headcloth,” she said. “It looks like you tried to wrap it with your eyes closed.”

“I might as well have,” Kyungsoo grumbled. “I can hardly see the back of it, now can I?” He untangled it as quickly as he could, throwing it into a corner and running the fingers of both hands back and forth vigorously through his hair. “The first campfire we make,” he said with feeling, “I am going to burn that thing.”

Soojung smiled, following him the stairs to the bedrooms. She stood outside one of them while Kyungsoo dunked his entire head in a bucket of water to refresh it before changing back into his usual clothes for the first time in days.

“I thought I would come with you so as not to make your prince uncomfortable,” she said through the door. “He is still not entirely comfortable with magic, is he?”

“No,” Kyungsoo sighed. “I thought he might have started to see things differently, being in a city like this, but I’m afraid all that trouble with Lu Han may have convinced him that magic does more harm than good. I just don’t know how to convince him that magic isn’t the great evil he’s been brought up to think it is.”

“The greatest good you can do is to stay with him,” said Soojung. He opened the door to find her staring intently at him. “He will need your help even more in the future. This first danger is past, but there are more to come, more terrible than what has passed. Magic will be necessary if he is to survive, and magic will ensure his triumph in the end, but it will also pose a great threat to him. Do not think that you have seen the last of Lu Han, but more than that, you must also know that he is not the only one who will strive to destroy the once and future king.”

“How am I supposed to help him if I have to hide my magic, though?” asked Kyungsoo, frustrated. “If he’s this great figure that all these prophecies talk about, then it sounds like there’s going to be a whole lot of magic involved. How can I protect him if I have to worry about staying hidden from him?”

Soojung just smiled and shook her head. "All I can tell you is to be patient," she said. "The time will come for your powers to reveal themselves, I'm sure."

"How sure are you though?" he asked. "Have you Seen it happen?"

"No," she shook her head again. "Just a feeling."

He was forced to leave it at that. When they returned downstairs, Kyungsoo insisted that they leave the dresses and everything else having to do with his disguise here. They were all beautiful pieces of clothing, he argued, and he was sure the two girls would find a use for them. Junmyeon joked that the only reason he was being so vehement was that he never wanted to see them again in his life, and Kyungsoo couldn't say that he was completely wrong.

"What about that?" Jinri asked, pointing to the balled-up wimple still in the corner where Kyungsoo had thrown it. "Neither of us are ever going to wear it."

"I'm taking that with me," said Kyungsoo decisively. He stuffed it into his bag. "I wasn't joking when I said I was going to burn it."

"Probably the best plan," Junmyeon nodded sagely. He addressed the two girls in a loud stage whisper. "Might help get rid of the fleas."

"Or maybe I'll just stick it in your blankets when we make camp tonight," mused Kyungsoo. "The possibilities are endless."

When he handed over the dresses, Kyungsoo made sure to point out to Jinri the dress that had showed signs of enchantment earlier. He hadn't worn it again since, but he still felt better knowing that it was out of his possession entirely. Soojung came to look them over, having set Junmyeon to repackage the smoked salmon and figs she was planning to send with them.

“What’s the matter with that one again?” she asked, pointing to the enchanted dress.

“It has some sort of spell woven into it,” said Kyungsoo. “I think it’s meant to attract people… we met a woman selling silk like this when we first arrived in town. It’s kind of hard to see, so you probably didn’t know you were giving me an enchanted dress, but-”

“Oh, we knew,” said Soojung offhandedly.

Kyungsoo stared.

“Soojung thought it might be useful,” said Jinri, looking just a little shamefaced. “You seemed so awkward about the disguise to begin with that she- well, _we_ thought that you could use a little help making friends.”

“And you didn’t think that maybe it could make things a little _more_ awkward between me and the man whose wife I was _pretending_ to be?” Kyungsoo demanded.

Soojung laughed. “Why should that have mattered in the slightest?” she asked. “It’s not like it would have any effect on him.”

“Didn't she say when you met her?” asked Jinri. “She only tends to put the silks on display that are targeted at members of the _opposite_ sex. Not that she doesn’t have others, of course, but still.”

“Oh,” said Kyungsoo. “ _Oh_. She… she did say that.”

“With the way you were acting, the other ladies would have found you offputting in the extreme,” said Soojung. “That dress probably went a long way towards making you friends, even if you didn’t notice.”

Kyungsoo could barely hear a word she was saying. The only thought that kept running through his head was that _the dress had had no effect on Junmyeon_. Nothing that had happened was the result of any enchantment. He wasn’t sure what to do with this information or how to deal with the way it was making his heart race. He hadn’t realized until now that there had been a twisted, guilty feeling buried deep in the pit of his stomach whenever he thought about Junmyeon. He only noticed it now in its absence.

“Does it make you feel better to know that?” Soojung said quietly, a hand on his elbow and a knowing smile on her face.

Kyungsoo smiled back. “You know, it really does.”

 

They stayed only a little while longer, but when they left, the space in their luggage that had been full of the gowns was now full of food, a trade-off that both Kyungsoo and Junmyeon approved of highly. Junmyeon was happy to be on the road home now that he knew that his father had made a complete recovery. While Kyungsoo was still slightly worried that they would be questioned about their absence, Junmyeon still assumed that Yixing would have already found an excuse for his disappearance. Kyungsoo was reluctant to assume anything of the kind, but it was hard to stay worried when Junmyeon was so obviously happy with the state of the world at large, humming to himself and barely even complaining about his arm, which was still up in a sling because of his injury.

"I bet Yixing just told him I was out searching for more leads on that troupe of traveling entertainers," Junmyeon said. "We let them go when it was clear they had nothing to do with the plot, but naturally I still had some questions about where that strange man came from. I'll have to come up with some story for that, I guess. Can't say that we snuck into another kingdom, after all."

"And what about me?" Kyungsoo asked.

"What about you?"

"Well, where was I?"

"Does it matter? I doubt anyone even noticed you were gone," Junmyeon shrugged, then hissed between his teeth when it tugged uncomfortably at his arm. "Probably passed out in some tavern for a week." He saw Kyungsoo offended face a burst out laughing. "You know, Kyungsoo, you really make it too easy." He grinned. "You were with me the whole time, of course. Not that you were much help, but I guess it wasn't a _complete_ waste bringing you along. So, you know, thank you. For not being entirely useless."

"Oh," said Kyungsoo. "Well, thank _you_ for not being a self-absorbed idiot."

"Was that sarcasm?" Junmyeon asked suspiciously. "Are you being sarcastic at me again?"

"Wouldn't dream of it."

They were back into the forest before long, the entire trip familiar and yet feeling completely different now that they were coming at it from the other end. A road always looked different when traveled in the other direction, but this time it was magnified a hundredfold by the fact that the nebulous goal that had been hanging over them the entire journey out had now been achieved. This time Junmyeon barely batted an eyelash about reentering the forest. Kyungsoo smiled when he remembered Junmyeon's earlier apprehension, but whatever magic this forest contained, Junmyeon no longer felt threatened by it, and to Kyungsoo that felt like a victory in and of itself. He knew there would be more difficulties ahead—Soojung's warnings implying more danger for them both, especially if Lu Han intended to seek revenge—but for now it felt like a chapter coming to an end, a space in which to catch their breaths as everything wound down from the intensity of the past few days' action.

From the moment they entered the woods again, Kyungsoo watched for where the path they had followed last time branched off from the main road. He couldn't tell if it had occurred to Junmyeon to look for it, or if he even remembered the warm, lush path leading to the sword's glen, but it was something Kyungsoo wanted to be sure he could find again. Like before, it was hard to measure the passage of time precisely under that dense canopy, yet when the light grew golden between the tall tree trunks, Kyungsoo knew they must have passed the fork by this time. He wondered if he might have just missed it blending into the undergrowth, but his eyes had never left the bushes by the side of the road for more than a moment at a time. It seemed more likely that something about the forest knew they had no reason to travel that way now, and so had simply folded it back into its green depths, leaving no trace of the summer path.

 

When they stopped, Junmyeon at first seemed uninclined to light a fire at all. He laughed and gave in when Kyungsoo insisted, brandishing his bag emphatically.

"I know you said you weren't kidding," Junmyeon said, "but wow. You sure have it in for that thing."

True to his word, Kyungsoo dumped the headcloth ceremoniously on the campfire as soon as it was big enough. Junmyeon pretended to cough at the noxious fumes it gave off, so Kyungsoo deliberately burned Junmyeon's skewer of meat to charcoal on the outside and then sat back to enjoy the faces he made while trying to eat it. Even though he'd seen it burned, while they got ready to sleep Junmyeon made a big deal of searching his bedroll to make sure Kyungsoo hadn't snuck the balled-up wimple in there anyway. He claimed it wouldn't put it past Kyungsoo to have faked the entire thing to put him off guard. It took him several minutes to be satisfied that there was nothing there, even poking around in the hot embers to see if he could pick out the cloth ash. He made as if to look through Kyungsoo's bag too, but backed away when Kyungsoo loudly protested. The spellbook was still hidden at the bottom and it would never do for Junmyeon to find that.

They finally settled down around the edge of the firelight. While Kyungsoo lay on his back, waiting for sleep to come, he stared up at the leafy ceiling for any faint flicker, any sign of the fairies from before. He was watching so closely that he didn't hear Junmyeon wiggle his bedroll right up next to him. He only noticed when Junmyeon took hold of both his hands, and Kyungsoo yanked them away, hiding them under his blanket.

"Kyungsoo, my hands are cold," Junmyeon complained.

"Then lie closer to the fire," Kyungsoo told him.

"Then the rest of me is too warm," Junmyeon said. "Your hands are nice and warm, let me have them back."

Kyungsoo said nothing.

" _Kyungsoo_ ," said Junmyeon reproachfully.

"Fine," Kyungsoo sighed, producing his hands from inside the blanket. Junmyeon held onto them happily.

Everything was quiet for a while after that, but Junmyeon still kept shifting back and forth, keeping Kyungsoo awake.

"Kyungsoo," said Junmyeon finally.

"What?" Kyungsoo sighed.

"I'm itchy. Switch blankets with me."

Kyungsoo just lay there and stared until Junmyeon rolled him forcibly out of his bedroll and made him switch the two. Junmyeon's blanket was infinitely more comfortable than Kyungsoo's own, but Junmyeon seemed content with the change, so Kyungsoo snuggled down into the cozy warmth of Junmyeon's lined bedroll. For all his loud complaints and bossy commands, Kyungsoo found Junmyeon's presence nearby comforting. It was true that Junmyeon had done far more for Kyungsoo than he technically needed to, even going beyond what had been required to maintain their disguise, and far more than most princes would do for their servants. Kyungsoo looked down at the ground between their blankets, where their hands were still twined together, as closely tangled as their shared destinies. He had been miserable when he first learned exactly who it was he was fated to serve and guard, he had screamed and raged at the unfairness of it all, but now he knew he had been far luckier in finding this prince than he could ever have hoped to be. Even if sometimes...

"Kyungsoo?"

" _What?_ "

"Good night."

Kyungsoo sighed. "Good night, Junmyeon."

 

In the darkness of the trees above, the leaves blew in a breeze just a little warmer than the rest of the world. A small glowing light watched the two figures below drift off to sleep beside each other, and it stayed with them all through the night.

And somewhere, far off in the future, Destiny waited.

**Author's Note:**

> **Translations:**
> 
> * “A clear voice, mirror-like, sweet as a fresh stream, make for me now.”  
> ** “Be free of the evil; break my enemy's spell.”  
> lit. “be free from the evil influence of the elves; break the spell of my rival/enemy.”  
> *** "Shield!"  
> ___________________
> 
> -All the Old English translations are by me, so I apologize for any mistakes and will gladly modify them if anyone has any suggestions to improve them.   
> \- There ARE sequels planned in the future, if I can ever get around to writing them. I had so many ideas that I just didn’t have time to write, so I deliberately left things open and left hints as to future adventures, just so that I could pick it up later. As it stands right now, I am planning for this to be part one in a trilogy, with a possible short side story about the Yixing/Lu Han/Minseok backstory. Part two is fairly thoroughly outlined right now, but I’m working on another monster fic that I promised almost a year ago SO it may be a while. I’m planning to spin this further from the BBC show and more into Arthurian legend.


End file.
